I&B Ministry
Cinema 24×7 gains most, Media Worldwide, Malai Murasu and Anaadi in 10 new channels’ list
NEW DELHI: As many as 10 private television channels got clearance in August and early September 2017, with Cinema 24×7 Pvt Ltd being the largest gainer with seven general entertainment slots.
The other three are — Bangla Talkies by Media Worldwide Ltd, and two news channels: Malai Murasu Seithikal by Chennai Murasu Pvt Ltd, and Anaadi TV by Asnani Builders and Developers Ltd.
Following cancellation of permission to 216 channels, the total number of permitted private TV channels in the country is 881 as on 5 September 2017, which includes 10 channels which had been granted stay by the courts of law.
Thus, the total number which had received clearance from the government stands at 1097. As many as nine channels were cleared in August and one earlier this month. The ministry of information and broadcasting has not revealed the 216 channels licences of which have been cancelled.
The list of 881 includes 387 news and 494 GEC channels. While 780, including 367 news channels, have been permitted to uplink and downlink from within the country, 84, including 15 news channels, have been uplinked overseas and downlinked in India. A total of 17 channels including 12 GECs are uplinked from India but beamed overseas.
Of the channels which have stay orders, five belong to Mahua Media Private Ltd and four belong to STV Enterprises Ltd.
But, this total is far short of the claim made last year that India will have 1500 channels by the end of March this year.
The number of total channels had grown from 869 in February-end 2016 to 892 in February-end this year but had fallen by 10 since. In fact, the number had risen to 899 by the end of December 2016 when the total cancellations were 155. By January-end this year, the number had fallen to 889 of which 12 banned channels had obtained stay orders from the courts.
The list of the channels permitted as on 5 September 2017 along with their area and language of operation and the names of owning companies has been placed on the ministry’s site.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Information Technology which goes into issues relating to information and broadcasting had last year noted that the State Finance Commission while drafting its proposals for the 12th Plan (2012-17) had assumed that the number of permitted TV channels would rise to 1500.
Meanwhile, the Committee was told that the present set up of Electronic Media Monitoring Centre had developed logging and recording facility for 900 TV channels and is thus fully equipped to start monitoring of all permitted channels available on public domain.
The Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd. (BECIL) is configuring all available free to air channels in the content monitoring system of the EMMC.
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.
