I&B Ministry
Majority of MSOs await security clearance held up by Home Ministry
NEW DELHI: Nine of the 13 multi-system operators (MSOs) who attended the last two open house meetings for MSOs in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry were told that their cases are awaiting security clearance by Home Ministry, even as the Ministry has now decided to consider the cases afresh.
Reliance Jio Media’s representative was informed that details of Reliance Jio CEO K. Jayaraman were being sent to the Home Ministry.
Others in the queue for Home Ministry who turned up in the meetings on 30 March and 7 April are Seven Star, Infinite Television & Telecom, K Net, GTPL Hathway, Shirdi Sai Digital, Sahyog Telelink, Om Systems and Subhodhaya Communication.
The cases of Subhodhaya Communication, Technobile System, Akshaya Diginet Cable, Technobile Systems and Bhaskar Cable Network have also been held up for other reasons including policy decisions.
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.
