I&B Ministry
MIB directs BARC to stop landing page impressions for measurements
MUMBAI: Clamping down on the practice of running a channel on multiple logical channel numbers (LCNs) allegedly for influencing television ratings, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has advised the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to discontinue the adoption of landing channels for the purposes of television audience measurement with immediate effect. Moreover, the ministry has asked BARC to send a compliance report on the same.
According to government sources, noncompliance on the landing page advisory “shall be violation of the Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies in India.”
The development comes close on the heels of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) statement on the issue on Tuesday. The telecom regulator issued a consultation paper to discuss the issue of the landing page (the page that appears when one switches on the STB and the TV set) and its many uses and misuses with the industry stakeholders.
Pointing out that the practice of running a channel on multiple logical channel numbers (LCNs) allegedly for influencing television rating was brought to the notice of the regulator, the TRAI statement said. Some TV channels allegedly, in collusion, with the distributors, placed some television channels on multiple LCNs (meaning at several places in different programming genres in the EPG), it added.
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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.
