I&B Ministry
MIB: No deadline to TV channels on use of foreign satellites
NEW DELHI: In what may come as a relief to TV channels, the Indian government said on Monday it has “not set any deadline” on the domestic media companies for use of transponders on foreign satellites, though it has withdrawn permission to over 200 channels for various reasons.
Asked by a fellow parliamentarian whether some TV channels were using foreign transponders even after expiry of a government deadline, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told Rajya Sabha (Upper House), “The government has not set any deadline for use of foreign transponders by the TV channel owners.”
The clarification from the MIB minister gains importance as indirect indications from various ministries — like delays in various clearances — over the last several months had been nudging TV channels to start the process of migration to Indian satellites from foreign spacecrafts.
A senior executive of a big broadcasting company admitted last week in private that though giving Rathore a free hand at MIB was a good sign, but clearance processes in the ministry were still slow.
Meanwhile, according to Rathore, out of the 867 private satellite TV channels having valid permission for uplinking and/or downlinking in India as of 30 June 2018, permission of 236 TV channels were cancelled due to “various reasons, including request for cancellation by the channel owner(s)”.
I&B Ministry
AIDCF moves TDSAT over Waves plan to stream linear TV channels
Industry body flags regulatory gap as OTT push sparks broadcast turf war
NEW DELHI: The battle between traditional television distributors and digital platforms has found its way to the courts, with the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) moving the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against Prasar Bharati’s latest OTT play.
At the heart of the dispute is Waves, Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform, which has invited applications to onboard linear satellite TV channels. Aidcf, which represents multi-system operators (msos), argues that this move sidesteps existing broadcasting rules and risks tilting the playing field in favour of digital platforms.
The federation’s petition hinges on a key provision in the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines, 2022. Clause 11(3)(f) allows broadcasters to downlink channels only if they provide signal decoders to recognised distribution platforms such as MSOS, DTH operators, hits operators and iptv platforms. OTT platforms, aidcf points out, do not feature on that list.
In simple terms, AIDCF’s argument is this: if OTT platforms are not officially recognised distributors, they should not be receiving broadcast signals in the first place. By inviting channels onto Waves, the federation claims, Prasar Bharati is opening a backdoor that lets broadcasters bypass long-standing rules.
The concern goes beyond legal interpretation. Aidcf says OTT platforms currently operate without a clear regulatory framework, allowing them to expand into traditional broadcasting territory without the compliance burden that cable and satellite operators must carry. That, it argues, creates an uneven contest.
There is also a warning for broadcasters. If they provide signal decoders to an OTT platform like Waves, they could risk breaching the very conditions under which their downlinking permissions were granted.
For its part, Prasar Bharati’s Waves initiative is positioned as a step towards wider access and digital reach, bringing linear television into the streaming era. But critics say the move blurs the line between regulated broadcasting and largely unregulated streaming.
The matter is expected to come up before tdsat next week. The outcome could do more than settle a single dispute. It may help define how India regulates the fast-merging worlds of television and OTT, where the lines are getting fuzzier by the day and the stakes, sharper than ever.
