Deutsche Welle is the national broadcaster of the Federal Republic of Germany. The reason why I wrote Germany this way is that the organization originally belonged to erstwhile Western Germany until East Germany was accommodated in the former. Accordingly, the broadcaster company of East Germany was merged in the DW. I first listened to the station sometime in 1992-93, three years after the merger. In that respect, I can never compare the two stations. DW immediately caught my fancy because of its reporting and presentation. There were two more reasons for me to like the broadcast: it offered service in Hindi also and its broadcast quality was far more superior than the other ones.
As time moved fast forward, I lost the touch with DW. But not before I learned some German through its programs. I could gather some sentences and basic phrases in German thanks to DW. It is myinability that I could not keep the tempo and garner some proficiencyin the language. In the meantime, I had become a journalist myself
and I rediscovered my favorite radio station. Though the medium ofthe contact had changed: it was on the internet mostly that I visitedDW nowadays. This allowed me the comfort of listening at my leisure and in as many languages as I could. Since I was a old fan of Hindi service, it was obvious that I refer to it on the net. Englishservice was irreplaceable to get a flavor of the international
developments. DW had also shifted its focus extensively from being a Germany centric station to a Europe centric one. In addition, I was also able to refer German and French service pages of the broadcaster to brush up my knowledge of the languages.
Aprominent feature of DW's Hindi service was program in Sanskrit language. It used to last for 15 minutes and appeared each alternate Mondays. The program is not in service today. It was discontinued two years ago. But I used to listen the program enthusiastically. DW was the only radio station besides All India Radio to broadcast Sanskrit programs regularly.
It was not that I was listening to DW alone. I used to listen many overseas radio stations at that time. But I was hooked to this station mostly because I always thought it like catering personally to me.
It was long ago that DW ceased to be a radio broadcaster only. It started TV programs in late 90s. Though the reach of the programs was limited in my country or at least in the area where I live. For this reason, I could only imagine the kind of programs offered. However, that difficulty also is now overcome with DW available on most DTH platforms. It is available on DD Direct Plus, Dish TV and other leading service providers. This has really increased the visibility of the channel in India though I really doubt as to how many viewers are 'attached' to it.
There are reasons why I am posing this doubt. First off all, it is not an entertaining channel. It is to its credit that DW never comes forward as a government broadcaster. But that has not helped it from being a mere informative channel. In India, where even the news channels are fast turning into entertainment machines, it would be hardly appreciated by the common public. Presumably, intellectuals and people with liking for serious content will fast take to this
channel. But the documentaries and news with a European perspective will hardly appeal to the viewer trapped in the TRP games.
I for myself liked the programs offered by the channel. Especially the kind of travel based programs are always to my liking. Previously, the programs came alternatively in English and German having one hour slot for each language. Now, I notice that it has considerably altered the programming with Asia Plus. German language programs, even though mostly comprising of news and documentaries, are less now. For last two days, I could watch only two to three hours of German programs on the channel. I wish it could have been more. But in any case, I am with DW. DW rocks!
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