I&B Ministry
Number of news and non-news TV channels is almost equal in the country
NEW DELHI: Six private television channels got the government’s approval in the past month. But the number of news and non-news channels remains almost equal. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry revealed that a total of 792 TV channels have got permission in the country.
A statistics by the I & B Ministry released today, reveals that the number of news and current affairs channels is 392 while the number of non-news (general entertainment channels) is 400. Of the total, 669 TV channels including 372 news channels have been given permission to uplink and downlink from within the country.
There has been no change in the past month in the total number of channels uplinked from overseas that are allowed to downlink into the country. Out of these 91 channels, 75 are general entertainment channels. In all, nine channels received permission in 2014, all for uplinking from India.
A total of 32 channels (just one more than last time) including 28 general entertainment channels are allowed to uplink from India but not downlink – thus they are aimed at other countries.
The channels that received permission in January this year are the GEC channel ‘Hastey Raho’ owned by Sangeet TV Network in Hindi, English and all other Indian Schedule Languages; the news channel Satlon News owned by Satlon Enterprises in Gujarati, Hindi and English; the Maha Movie channel owned by Teleone Consumers Products in Hindi, English and all other Indian languages; and the GEC channel Green TV owned by Nomad Films in English, Hindi and regional languages.
In February, the channels that received permission were the news channel NSN News owned by Bhole Baba Real Estate Developers in Hindi, English and all other Indian languages; the non-news Daati Ahsas owned by Bhole Baba Real Estate Developers in Hindi, English and all Indian languages; the non-news Satkar owned by Cobol Communications in English and all Indian languages; and the news channel Prabhatam LIFELINE owned by Naman Broadcastings and Telecommunications in Hindi, English and regional languages.
The lone channel to get permission this month was the Bengali non-news channel Fatafati owned by Squoosh Entertainment.
On its website, the Ministry also uploaded the names of the companies that own these channels, the language, and the date when the 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.
