I&B Ministry
Da Vinci Learning, Swadesh News get I&B clearance; total channels touch 832
NEW DELHI: During April and May this year, two new channels received permission to launch from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
The first is Da Vinci Learning – a non-news channel owned by Da Vinci Media India Pvt. Ltd, which has got downlinking permission in English and in selected cases dubbed in local languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali. As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Raghav Bahl’s The Quint and Da Vinci Media are jointly launching the edutainment channel.
The second channel is Swadesh News owned by Sri Sai Media Pvt Ltd, which has received uplinking permission in Hindi, English and all Indian scheduled language.
With this, a total of six new channels have received permission in the first five months of 2015, taking the total number of television channels in the country to 832.
The other four channels that received permission earlier this year were all non-news channels, which received uplinking permission.
Thus, Da Vinci Learning is the only channel to get downlinking permission in 2015 until the end of May.
By the end of December 2014, the number of permitted satellite television channels in the country was 826.
Statistics show that 698 channels (including 382 news channels) are permitted to uplink and downlink from within the country, and 41 (including eight news channels) are uplinked from India for beaming overseas and not in the country. There is no change in channels uplinked from overseas and downlinked into India with the number remaining static at 93 (including 16 news channels).
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.
