I&B Ministry
Nimbus-DD talks fail, I&B may issue ordinance
NEW DELHI: The information and broadcasting ministry is likely to issue an ordinance by the end of the week, making it mandatory for Neo Sports to share its cricket telecast feed with Prasar Bharati.
Ministry sources told Indiantelevision.com that as the minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was not in Delhi, deliberations on drafting an ordinance can only commence on Tuesday.
If an ordinance is finalized, it will be sent to the law ministry for clearance and only then referred to the union cabinet for approval. As this process is unlikely to be complete by Thursday when the cabinet meets, a special meeting may be held later to clear the ordinance.
Negotiations had earlier broken down with Nimbus which owns Neo Sports when the private channel insisted that Doordarshan should either encrypt the channel or show the matches as a deferred telecast. After almost three days of negotiations, Prasar Bharati officials said the conditions set by Nimbus was not in conformity with the uplinking/downlinking guidelines issued by the government.
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.
