I&B Ministry
Govt. cans plans of introducing comprehensive broadcast legislation
NEW DELHI: Contrary to plans of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the present government has said there are no plans to introduce a comprehensive broadcast legislation in the Parliament.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said, “No such proposal is under consideration of the Ministry.”
The previous government had not only drawn up plans for such legislation but placed it on the Ministry website. In fact, a draft of the proposed Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill 2007 – which was a revised version of the proposed legislation of 2006 – is still on the website.
Meanwhile, Jaitley told Lok Sabha that all the areas uncovered by terrestrial transmitters along with rest of the country have been provided with multichannel TV coverage through Doordarshan’s free to air direct-to-home Freedish service anywhere in the country.
Doordarshan coverage is estimated to be available to about 92 per cent population spread over about 81 per cent area of the country.
DD has 1416 TV transmitters of varying power in terrestrial mode, whereas DD’s Free Dish services on DTH has currently 64 TV channels on air.
I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati sets EPG standards for DD Free Dish platform
New specs define 7-day guide, LCN mapping, and device compatibility.
MUMBAI: Your TV guide just got a backstage pass structured, scheduled, and far more in sync. Prasar Bharati has released detailed technical specifications for Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) services on DD Free Dish, laying down a standardised framework for how channels and programme information are organised and delivered. At the core of the update is a defined EPG data structure, covering genre-based categorisation, scheduling formats, and Logical Channel Numbering (LCN). The aim is simple: make navigation less guesswork and more guided experience across the platform’s over 40 million households.
The specifications also introduce a seven-day programme guide window for each channel, alongside clear rules for channel grouping and LCN mapping effectively deciding not just what you watch, but how easily you find it.
On the technical front, the document outlines requirements for Program Specific Information (PSI) and Service Information (SI), including descriptor usage across tables such as PAT, BAT and NIT. It further details service lists and network linkage parameters, giving OEMs and developers a clearer blueprint for integration.
Importantly, the framework is designed to work seamlessly with television sets equipped with in-built satellite tuners, enabling users to access DD Free Dish directly without additional hardware, an incremental but meaningful step towards simplifying access.
The platform will continue to operate on GSAT-15 transponders, using MPEG-4 compression and DVB-S2 transmission standards, ensuring continuity even as the interface evolves.
While largely technical, the move signals a broader push towards standardisation and user-friendly discovery in India’s free-to-air ecosystem because sometimes, the real upgrade isn’t what’s on screen, but how easily you get there.
