I&B Ministry
Meeting of expert committee on WIPO early next month
NEW DELHI: The first meeting of the expert committee constituted earlier this year for the protection of broadcasting organisation at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) will be held on 2 September.
The aim is to discuss with members from broadcasting organisations and broadcasters to examine and articulate the stand being taken by India.
The meeting will discuss the text of the broadcasting treaty and proposals submitted by India during the 26th SCCR; discussion on the informal proposal submitted by Japan; discussion on the proposal submitted by European Union and discussion on the formats circulated by WlPO secretariat.
The members of the committee include representatives of all the concerned Ministries, representatives of the News Broadcasters Association and Indian Broadcasting Foundation, the radio industry, the film industry, Prasar Bharati, Amit Shukla who is Director (Copyright) in the Registrar of Copyrights (copyright division) of the Department of Higher Education; BECIL; the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI); Centre for Media Studies (CMS); Community Radio Forum; Community Radio Association; Association of Regional Television Broadcasters of India; School of Legal Studies in Cochin; Cine & TV Artistes Association; the Film Federation of India; the Indian Music Industry and the Film & TV producers Guild of India.
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.
