I&B Ministry
News Broadcasters Association rechristens as News Broadcasters & Digital Association
Mumbai: News Broadcasters Association (NBA), the largest body of news broadcasters in the country, has decided to change its present name to ‘News Broadcasters & Digital Association’ (NBDA).
NBA consists of the nation’s top-rated news channels and commands more than 80 per cent of news television viewership in India. With the media landscape has changed drastically due to technology, enormous choices have now become available to viewers to access content on various mediums and digital seems to be the future. NBA Board has decided to change the name of NBA to NBDA in order to reflect the addition of digital media news broadcasters as its members.
“NBA has decided to bring within its purview digital media news broadcasters. In its new phase, with the inclusion of digital media news broadcasters, the NBA board has decided to change the name of the body from NBA to NBDA,” said NBA president Rajat Sharma announcing the decision.
“I firmly believe that the NBDA will become a strong collective voice for both the broadcast and digital media. Along with commercial and regulatory issues, it will also enable the Association to defend the fundamental right of free speech and expression guaranteed to the media in the Constitution of India in a better manner,” Sharma added.
The pride of the NBA has been the setting up of an independent self-regulatory body News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) 14 years ago. The NBSA has put in place a time-tested complaint redressal system and process, headed by eminent judges of the Supreme Court of India and eminent persons who have striven to improve broadcasting standards.
NBDA board has decided that with the inclusion of digital media news broadcasters, the name of the self-regulatory body, NBSA be rechristened as ‘News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority’ (NBDSA).
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.
