I&B Ministry
If govt. wants ordinance on CAS, it will have to convince President
NEW DELHI: With the adjournment of the Indian Parliament sine die today, the fate of conditional access system becomes that much more nebulous. Though, some government officials told indiantelevision.com this afternoon that the information and broadcasting ministry may take the Ordinance route to bring about the implementation of CAS.
I&B minister Sushma Swaraj had got the cable TV Networks Amendment Bill 2002 first listed in the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of Parliament) towards the beginning of this session, but had got it delisted as Opposition in the Rajya Sabha had wanted a thorough debate on the issue.
The Lok Sabha (Lower House) has already okayed the amendments to the CATV Act, 1995 through a voice vote which aims at facilitating the implementation of CAS and bring about addressability in Indian cable TV homes.
Government officials said that an Ordinance (an executive order) is a plausibility, but the government has to convince the President that the issue of CAS is of national importance and cannot wait for Parliament to pass it in the winter session. The adjournment of Parliament sine die, ahead of the scheduled date of 14 August, came about as for the past few days no business had been transacted in Parliament with the Opposition in both the Houses resorting to boycott and demanding petroleum minister Ram Naik’s resignation after irregularities in the petrol pumps and kerosene depot allotment came to light sometime back.
Even if the government promulgates an Ordinance on CAS, it has to be okayed by Parliament in the next session or it lapses six months after its promulgation.
But the Ordinance has to wait a little also if that is the route the government opts to take. The President of India is scheduled to tour the state of Gujarat over the next 10 days and may not have time to study the issue immediately.
The broadcasting industry, which was not much in favour of CAS implementation immediately, can breathe easier now, while the cable industry and set-top box manufacturers, pushing for CAS, may have to wait a while.
See earlier headline:
CAS still stuck as RS adjourned sine die, govt. examining ordinance route
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.
