German broadcaster eyes partners in India

Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle has said it was interested in entering the television and FM radio space in India, though it was wary about the restrictions on news and current affairs programmes for foreign broadcasters.

"India is an important country and we are looking for partnerships," Erik Bettermann, DW Director-General told PTI.

He said DW, which had revenues of about 300 million Euros last year, was open to making investments in the Indian market, in case right opportunities and partners came its way.

Among others, Bettermann held meetings with top officials of public broadcasters All-India Radio and DD during his visit to the national capital, and welcomed the government's decision to allow foreign direct investment in FM radio.

He, however, expressed reservations over some of the restrictions on foreign broadcasters in respect of news and current affairs programmes.

"Free press is a pre-condition for democracy... open the sector for foreign broadcasters. It is the trend worldwide," he said.

While the government has disallowed news and current affairs programming in private FM radio, foreign TV news broadcasters like BBC and CNN cannot have programming and advertising specifically designed for Indian audience.