DTH
Chinese cable op uses BigBand Digital TV mgt to expand programme lineup
MUMBAI: With the aim of expanding its programme lineup and maximising bandwidth efficiency Nanjing Radio and Television Network has done a deal with BigBand Networks which provides network platforms for video, voice and data services in China.
Nanjing has deployed the BigBand Broadband Multimedia-Service Router (BMR) for its digital television services. The operator, one of China’s largest, is using extensive functionality of the BigBand Digital TV Management solution to deliver live programming in its network with more than 800,000 subscribers.
This BMR platform deployment will also allow Nanjing to introduce more advanced services and functionality. Nanjing states that it chose BigBand Networks as it distinguished itself from alternatives with a complete and flexible solution design that accesses content from various sources, achieves total control over program lineups and bandwidth efficiency, and performs the necessary processing for reliable delivery to Nanjing subscribers.
The BigBand BMR provides a complete solution for Nanjing’s current needs and also has next-generation capabilities to evolve with our expanding initiatives such as Gigabit Ethernet networking between facilities. The Nanjing deployment utilises multiple BigBand Digital TV Management functions for end-to-end delivery. The modular port flexibility of the BigBand BMR is leveraged to access content from a variety of program source types, including satellite downlinks, terrestrial broadcast feeds and local storage.
The operator determines which of the accessed programmes to carry and what channel lineups to utilise, which is realised through statistical remultiplexing with RateShaping bit rate adaptation maintaining video quality while maximising bandwidth efficiency. The content is modulated by broadcast QAM modules on the BMR for robust delivery to any digital subscriber device including support for DVB Simulcrypt security.
DTH
Prasar Bharati’s WAVES earns Rs 2.9 crore in first year
Platform scales content, users but monetisation gaps limit revenue growth.
MUMBAI: Big waves, small ripples at least for now. When Prasar Bharati launched its OTT platform WAVES at the 55th International Film Festival of India in November 2024, it pitched a bold vision: a homegrown rival to global and domestic streaming giants, blending video, audio, gaming and commerce into a single digital ecosystem. Five months into FY2024–25, however, the platform’s revenue stands at just Rs 2.90 crore, a figure that underscores the gap between ambition and monetisation.
On paper, WAVES looks anything but modest. The platform has ingested 13,608 titles, totalling 9,495 hours of content, with over 13,000 titles already live. It has streamed more than 575 live events from the Mahakumbh Amrit Snan and the 76th Republic Day parade to the Hockey India League, Kabaddi World Cup and Mann Ki Baat while offering 74 live TV channels and 12 radio channels. With over 10 lakh registered users and more than 200 content partners onboarded, the scale resembles that of a fully operational streaming service rather than a pilot project.
The architecture supporting this scale is equally robust. Built under Prasar Bharati’s Central Archives vertical, WAVES runs on a cloud-based infrastructure with DRM, encryption and an integrated analytics dashboard. It includes dedicated units for content ingestion, quality control, publishing, graphics, marketing and billing, and is distributed across platforms such as OTTplay, Tata Play and BSNL. The offering extends beyond video to include audio-on-demand, e-games and even e-commerce via ONDC integration.
Yet, the numbers reveal a core disconnect. Despite its scale, WAVES generated just Rs 2.90 crore in a market where India’s OTT industry crossed Rs 23,000 crore in 2024. A key bottleneck lies in monetisation infrastructure: subscriptions cannot currently be purchased within the app and must be completed via an external website. In a mobile-first country where over 95 per cent of OTT consumption happens on smartphones, this extra step creates friction that most users are unlikely to overcome.
Ironically, content is not the problem, it is the platform’s biggest strength. Prasar Bharati holds one of the world’s richest broadcast archives, including 45,154 hours of digitised Akashvani programming and 35,723 hours from Doordarshan. For WAVES alone, over 3,800 hours of archival content have been made OTT-ready, including classics such as Ramayan and Shaktimaan, alongside rare cultural recordings and historical broadcasts.
There are early signs that this library holds commercial potential. Revenue from archival content licensing rose sharply to Rs 3.38 crore in FY24, up from Rs 67 lakh the previous year. Meanwhile, free digital platforms continue to drive massive reach, the PB Archives Youtube channel clocked 119.78 million views and added 4,02,000 subscribers in FY2024–25, crossing 1.7 million in total, while DD News has over 5.84 million subscribers.
That, however, presents a strategic dilemma. While free distribution builds scale, it also conditions audiences to expect content at zero cost making it harder to transition to paid models. WAVES, designed as a hybrid AVOD-SVOD platform with advertising and subscription layers, is yet to fully crack this balance.
The broader challenge is not technological but strategic. In an ecosystem dominated by platforms offering seamless payments, aggressive pricing and high-budget originals, WAVES is still bridging the gap between being a content repository and a commercially viable product.
For now, the platform reflects both promise and paradox. It has the scale, the content and the infrastructure but until monetisation catches up, WAVES remains less a revenue engine and more a digital showcase of what India’s public broadcaster could become.
