Now let’s hear it for a big, bored yawn: What else is old? Experience — and a very bad experience it is too — suggests that I&B ministers have always received preferential treatment on Doordarshan. In keeping with this tradition, next to Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, Dasmunshi is the most frequent face on DD. Worse still, he’s the official spokesperson for Prasar Bharati — you know, our public service broadcaster that has been autonomous since Jaipal Reddy ‘liberated’ it from government control in 1997 but kept it firmly tied to its purse strings? Well, the I&B minister continues to treat Prasar Bharati, DD (and no doubt AIR) as his personal fiefdoms.

Throughout the recent dispute with Nimbus (Neo Sports) over DD’s right to telecast cricket played in India (for which Neo paid a regal royalty), it is the minister who has argued the case for Prasar Bharati. As he had done, on occasion, for the Censor Board — remember he previewed Da Vinci Code and declared the film would carry a disclaimer at the start? Wonder why he doesn’t simply dispense with the Censor Board and Prasar Bharati and arrogate their responsibilities to himself? That way we will get to see him and hear from him even more often on TV.

The minister is right that events of “national importance” should be viewed by the maximum number of people. What we question is his definition of “national importance”. The Ranji Trophy final concluded yesterday. It pitted Mumbai against West Bengal. It was telecast on Neo Sports, live. Not on DD. However, in spite of this undoubted insult to the premier “national” cricket contest, did you hear the veriest muffled protest from Dasmunshi? Did Doordarshan rush to the courts for the injustice to the public who missed a lovely one hundred from Tendulkar and beautiful bowling by Zaheer Khan?

Why not?

Speculation: Is it because “national” tournaments such as the Ranji or the PHL in hockey and the Federation Cup football (telecast on private sports channels) do not interest the average viewer — or is it the minister, the ministry and DD who are indifferent to their charms? Next week, Australian Open Tennis Champion Serena Williams and India’s Sania Mirza compete at Sony Ericsson competition in Bangalore — but only the privileged few with cable/DTH will see them because DD does not bother with such minor matters.

You would think that in order to popularise a sport such as tennis, in order to interest youngsters in sports, it would be in the national interest to telecast such tournaments. But Dasmunshi and DD’s definition of “national importance” is narrow and restrictive: It applies solely to international cricket tournaments featuring India. Or the Olympics, Asian Games, Davis Cup, etc. So is DD’s interest in these tournaments entirely altruistic or is there a commercial angle which defines national importance here?

Lastly, can someone tell us why Prasar Bharati and its minister wait till the public has missed an India-West Indies match to challenge the BCCI-Nimbus deal? Why wait until the last minute before remembering the tourney was of national importance?