I&B Ministry
Content share: I&B refuses to commit on a review
NEW DELHI: The government today said that no decision has been taken yet to review any provision in the uplink and downlink policies as a report on the issue of content share is awaited.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a Zee Sports press conference here today, information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi diplomatically said, “The I&B secretary will submit a report on content share next week after concluding discussions with the industry. We’ll see then.”
Asked whether the government is likely to bring about some dilution in media norms, described stringent by broadcasters, Das Munshi said the bridge will be crossed when it comes.
A recent government norm stipulates that all sporting events of national importance be shared with pubcaster Prasar Bharati on a mandatory basis.
However, holding out a ray of hope to broadcasters, Das Munshi added that as a politician and a sports administrator — he’s the chief of the Indian football federation — it’s his job to safeguard the interest of the public and the industry as well.
Keeping up his ambivalent stand on media issues, Das Munshi also evaded answering whether the I&B ministry would back health ministry-proposed ban on smoking in films and TV serials.
“It’s the health ministry’s job to look after the health of the nation and the I&B ministry’s job to see that smoking is not glamourised,” the minister amplified his ministry’s reluctance to support the health ministry in a round about fashion.
The ban was supposed to have come in effect from 1 January 2006, but has now been postponed till March. A case in Delhi high court, filed by a film-maker, too is pending a final verdict.
Das Munshi’s ambivalence on the smoking-ban issue, which has the film and TV world up in arms, was in sharp contrast to health ministry’s belligerence and latest developments wherein an anti-tobacco group of Goa has served a legal notice on actor Amitabh Bachchan for allegedly violating government norms and glamourising smoking in his new film, Family.
The notice on Bachchan has been served by a little known organization going by the name of National Organization for Tobacco Eradication.
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.
