I&B Ministry
Channels uplinked for beaming overseas have to follow laws of receiving country: Rathore
NEW DELHI: Although the 36 channels uplinked from India and downlinked overseas are not bound by the Programme and Advertising Codes, the Indian government said that the uplinked content should not contain anything, which is against the sovereignty, integrity and national security of India as well as its relations with friendly countries.
The permission to these channels was given under the Uplinking Guidelines of November 2011.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Lok Sabha today that these channels will be required to ensure compliance of the rules and regulations of the target country for which content is being produced and uplinked.
These channels will be required to preserve the recordings of proceedings for at least six months for monitoring purposes, he said.
A majority of the channels are from the Zee Group targeting different countries including the United States and South Africa, while others include Raj TV and South Asia World TV.
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.
