I&B Ministry
I&B ministry clears Chandra’s bid for DTH licence
NEW DELHI: Time to pop the double bubbly at Essel/Zee, it seems. First HITS, now DTH!
It is learnt from government sources that the file relating to the DTH licence, sought by the Subhash Chandra-promoted ASC Enterprises, has been cleared by the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry paving the way for the work to begin on putting together a DTH platform.
Yesterday, the Indian government formally signed an agreement with the Chandra company for the teleport/uplink licence for the headend in the sky (HITS) project, being sought to be implemented by Zee Telefilms’ cable arm Siti Cable.
Contacted by indiantelevision, a senior executive of the ASC Enterprises today confirmed that the government has issued them a letter for teleport/uplink from Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, from where various Zee family channels are uplinked through the facility of Essel
Shyam, a joint venture between the Essel group and Shyam Electronics.
Buoyed by various developments, Siti Cable, that would be implementing the HITS project in a post-conditional access regime, has already shot off letters to various broadcasters (like Star and Sony Entertainment TV) requesting to be supplied with a particular type of boxes that would be needed during the `turn around’ of pay channels from the central uplink facility for the HITS venture.
According to company sources, Siti Cable is likely to maintain the subscriber management system and look after other aspects of HITS. The company is also looking at three to four vendors who can supply it with readymade conditional access boxes that would be needed by cable operators and viewers to access the pay channels.
A source close to the deal making said, “Since Siti cable is likely to place bulk orders for the boxes, the price that it is looking at for the digital boxes would be between $ 43-48.
Rupee dollar exchange rate $1 = Rs 47.50
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.
