I&B Ministry
Gujarat blacks out PTV
For two months, the Indian government has dithered on the issue of a ban on the state-backed PTV. Within two days of the Gujarat riots, however, the state government has clamped down on the telecast of Pakistan TV, to prevent the spread of “misinformation”.
Officials have been quoted as saying: “PTV is indulging in a gross disinformation campaign. Allowing the beaming of such programmes would be detrimental to the efforts to restore communal harmony.” The channel has consequently been blacked out since Sunday to prevent any further biased news spreading in the strife-torn state.
The state government however has also not taken kindly to the Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV’s coverage of the situation and has responded with an arbitrary ban order on Star News from 2 March, using the state government’s discretionary powers. The channel has been beaming images of violence on the streets of Gujarat, and commenting on the absence of police personnel in the most-affected areas. Terming it as “instigative” journalism, a piqued chief minister Narendra Modi reportedly told media, “A television channel has been showing inflammatory visuals and reporting inaccurately. According to a rule, no community should be named. One channel has been blatantly naming communities.”
Roy has responded to the charges by saying: “As far as I know, all news channels and not just NDTV were asked to stop telecast on riots from Gujarat. However, that decision was never implemented and the telecast from there has been restored.”
The chief minister has stuck to his guns maintaining that Star News has been showing provocative visuals and instigating people with reports of scant police presence on the streets of several cities in Gujarat.
It is still not clear though whether Modi’s orders to ban Star News have been carried through.
I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati opens AIR to private content under new policy
NIPP introduces revenue share, sponsored and gratis models
MUMBAI: Radio may be the oldest voice in the room, but it’s learning some very modern tricks. In a bid to stay tuned to changing listener habits, Prasar Bharati has opened the doors of All India Radio to private players under a newly rolled-out content framework. The initiative, titled Notice Inviting Programme Proposals (NIPP), marks a significant shift in how the public broadcaster approaches programming moving from a largely in-house model to a more collaborative, market-aligned ecosystem. Issued by Akashvani’s Directorate General in April 2026, the policy invites private producers, content owners and aggregators to pitch programmes across formats, from radio dramas and documentaries to quiz shows, storytelling and music-led content.
At the heart of the framework lies a three-pronged participation model designed to balance creative freedom with commercial viability. The most prominent route is revenue sharing, where advertising and sponsorship income generated by a programme is split between the producer and the broadcaster. The structure tilts in favour of creators offering a 70:30 split when producers bring in advertising, and 65:35 when monetisation is handled by Prasar Bharati.
Alongside this sits the sponsored model, where producers fully fund and monetise their content, subject to compliance with advertising norms and the AIR Broadcast Code. For those less commercially inclined, a gratis route allows content to be submitted free of cost, with Prasar Bharati retaining all monetisation rights effectively turning the platform into a national distribution channel for diverse voices.
The move comes as legacy media grapples with intensifying competition from private FM networks, streaming platforms and digital audio ecosystems. By repositioning AIR as both a public service broadcaster and a content marketplace, Prasar Bharati appears to be recalibrating its role in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
Importantly, the framework does not dilute editorial control. All submissions must adhere to the AIR Broadcast Code, and proposals are evaluated through a layered process that weighs storytelling quality, production capability, audience appeal and revenue potential. Only proposals crossing a defined threshold move forward, signalling that while access has widened, the bar remains firmly in place.
Operational discipline is another cornerstone of the policy. Producers are required to maintain broadcast-ready content, deliver episode banks in advance and navigate a structured approval process. Crucially, all production costs are borne by the content provider, reinforcing Prasar Bharati’s positioning as a distribution and oversight platform rather than a commissioning entity.
What elevates the initiative further is its scale. The framework spans multiple clusters and stations across India, covering both metro and regional markets, with specific language mandates and submission channels. This not only expands the content pipeline but also deepens linguistic and cultural representation, an area where AIR has historically held an advantage.
In effect, NIPP signals a quiet but meaningful transformation. AIR is no longer just broadcasting to the nation, it is inviting the nation to broadcast with it, blending legacy reach with contemporary content economics in a bid to stay relevant in an increasingly fragmented audio universe.
