News Broadcasting
DD appoints marketing agency for DTH service
NEW DELHI: Pubcaster Doordarshan, proposing to launch its free KU-band direct-to-home television service on 15 August, expects to seed the market with over 10,000 boxes before the launch date. Some boxes would be sold, while a bulk would be distributed free. It has also appointed a marketing agency towards the purpose.
Pointing out that the launch of DD Direct — as the DTH service has been christened — would be a “soft” one, bereft of hype associated with such initiatives in the broadcast industry, Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma told indiantelevision.com today, “We expect to have distributed 10,000 boxes — needed to access the DTH service — by mid-August and the vendor for the boxes has intimated us that the effort would be to sell additional boxes.”
According to Sarma, DD has also appointed a marketing agency to have the set-top boxes for the DTH service to be sold through outlets in various cities. “If the promise of the vendor comes through, then about 20,000 boxes would be sold over the period.” The price of the boxes has been kept nominal, Sarma added.
The launch of the DD Direct, to be beamed through NSS6 satellite, had been a matter of speculation for sometime in the government and industry circles for various reasons. One being whether the present Congress-led government would finally go ahead with the launch of the DTH service.
Though Prasar Bharati, which manages DD and sibling All-India Radio, had made an offer to private sector TV channels to come on board the DTH platform, the response had been lukewarm. Most of the Hindi-language entertainment channels have preferred to keep away. But on the other hand, some popular South Indian language channels, including two from the Sun TV family, have agreed to be part of DD Direct, which also has Star’s free-to-
air Star Utsav.
Sarma said that DD Direct would be launched with 17 channels, including private channels, but admitted that no Sony channels are part of the bouquet.
DD had decided last year to launch a KU-band DTH service as part of its expansion. A feasibility study undertaken indicated that it would be a costlier affair to expand terrestrially and so the DTH mode was opted for especially keeping in mind border areas and north-eastern parts of the country where both terrestrial and cable TV signals are either fuzzy or do not exist at all.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in October last okayed pubcaster Doordarshan’s forays into DTH television service and gave a nod to government assistance amounting to Rs 1,650 million in the first phase.
The assistance was to be disbursed over a period of three years starting from the current financial year. The one-time cost of installation of hardware would be approximately Rs 6,000, which is also expected to come down to Rs 3,000.
The CCEA had also approved, in principle, a proposal that after three years, DD can “go pay” with its DTH service to generate additional revenue for keeping up the service. By “going pay” means that subscribers would have to pay a monthly subscription for the service as they would pay for any other DTH service in the country.
DD initially plans to distribute 10,000 TV sets and dish antennas free-of-cost to public institutes like village panchayats, some educational institutions and NGOs.
At the moment, there is only one DTH service in India, Dish TV, which is promoted by Subhash Chandra’s companies. The Tata-Star combine are awaiting a clearance from the information and broadcasting ministry for its proposed DTH service.
News Broadcasting
WITT Summit 2026 concludes in New Delhi
Babar Azam’s comical diving attempt goes viral as league introduces anti-dew measures.
MUMBAI: The WITT Summit just wrapped up with enough big ideas to fill a policy playbook because when India’s leaders, thinkers and icons gather under one roof, even the conversations hit sixes. The eighth edition of TV9 Network’s flagship What India Thinks Today (WITT) Summit 2026 concluded on Saturday after two days of dynamic discussions at its New Delhi venue. India’s largest multi-domain public policy and culture summit brought together political leaders, policymakers, sports icons, artists and technology innovators to examine the forces shaping contemporary India and its global standing.
Prime minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address on the theme “India and the World” for the third consecutive year. In a wide-ranging speech, he addressed the ongoing conflict in West Asia, calling for restraint and compassion while highlighting India’s continued development trajectory despite global turmoil.
The summit featured candid conversations with state leaders. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy articulated a people-first governance model and contrasted it with other development approaches. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav declared that Left-wing extremism had been effectively eliminated in his state and highlighted preparations for the upcoming Kumbh Mela. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann defended his government’s record, citing the closure of 19 toll plazas and creation of the Sadak Suraksha Force. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar expressed confidence in Congress prospects in Assam and addressed recent allegations against him.
On geopolitics and national security, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia outlined India’s ambition to become a builder of trusted digital infrastructure for the world, citing the rapid 5G rollout and village-level 4G connectivity.
Cricket received significant attention. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly praised player freedom and trust as hallmarks of great leadership and named MS Dhoni as the greatest captain due to his World Cup successes. India women’s team bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi credited the BCCI and Women’s Premier League for building a pipeline of world-class talent behind the team’s recent ODI World Cup triumph.
The summit also hosted the inaugural AI² Awards 2026, celebrating the convergence of human creativity and machine intelligence in storytelling and content creation. Poet and kathavachak Kumar Vishwas delivered a nuanced take on India’s concept of Dharma and criticised the recent arrest of an 80-year-old Shankaracharya. Veteran lyricist Sameer Anjaan and storyteller Neelesh Misra reflected on changing music trends and artistic responsibility in the wake of a recent controversy involving Nora Fatehi.
In a country where conversations often run as deep as the Ganges, the WITT Summit proved once again that when leaders, thinkers and storytellers come together, the real winner is public discourse lively, layered and refreshingly unafraid to tackle the big questions shaping India’s tomorrow.
