I&B Ministry
MSM gets licence for two new HD TV channels
NEW DELHI: AXN HD and SET HD, both from the Multi Screen Media (MSM) bouquet, are the only two private television channels permitted for downlinking into the country during 2014.
All the other nine channels which got permissions in the first four months of 2014 are to be uplinked from within the country. These include the news channels NSN News, VIP News (earlier known as Prabhatam NSB), Satlon News and Prabhatam Lifeline.
The general entertainment channels are: Daati Ahsaas, Satkar, Hastey Raho, the Bengali channel Fatafati and Maha Movie.
With this, the total number of private channels uplinking from or downlinking into the country has gone up to 795.
According to the statistics revealed by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry today, the number of news and current affairs channels is 393 while the number of non-news (general entertainment channels) is 402.
Of the total, 669 TV channels including 372 news channels have been given permission to uplink and downlink from within the country.
The Ministry also placed on its website the names of the companies which own these channels, the language, and the date when permission was granted.
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.
