I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati spreads positive news of COVID warriors
MUMBAI: As India fights COVID-19, many inspiring stories of health workers, policemen, journalists, individuals, organisations, academic institutions have come to the fore. To acknowledge and appreciate their contribution, Prasar Bharati (DD and AIR) has followed these stories from across the country and are now offering to the media houses to share these stories of bravery, sacrifice and compassion with other media so that it reaches wider audience in India and abroad, and inspires and gives hope to Indians and the world in this global fight against the pandemic COVID-19.
These good news stories and more on COVID-19 from Prasar Bharati can be accessed via three platforms:
1– Real-time on mobile phones/smartphones through the telegram channel – https://t.me/pbns_india
2– Near real-time from http://covid-goodnews.pbns.in/
3– Broadcast-quality audio-visual media from FTP server.
Apart from the good news stories, through platforms mentioned above, Prasar Bharati will also be sharing video messages of celebrities, latest updates on COVID-19 from India and the world, fact-checks and COVID-19 ground reports from across the country.
All of the above will also be summarised through a periodic news digest with ready reference URLs to important news items and social media updates. The broadcaster has requested all media outlets to take advantage of the above content sharing mechanism and disseminate the stories from across India of perseverance and resilience as India fights back COVID-19.
I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati opens AIR to private content under new policy
NIPP introduces revenue share, sponsored and gratis models
MUMBAI: Radio may be the oldest voice in the room, but it’s learning some very modern tricks. In a bid to stay tuned to changing listener habits, Prasar Bharati has opened the doors of All India Radio to private players under a newly rolled-out content framework. The initiative, titled Notice Inviting Programme Proposals (NIPP), marks a significant shift in how the public broadcaster approaches programming moving from a largely in-house model to a more collaborative, market-aligned ecosystem. Issued by Akashvani’s Directorate General in April 2026, the policy invites private producers, content owners and aggregators to pitch programmes across formats, from radio dramas and documentaries to quiz shows, storytelling and music-led content.
At the heart of the framework lies a three-pronged participation model designed to balance creative freedom with commercial viability. The most prominent route is revenue sharing, where advertising and sponsorship income generated by a programme is split between the producer and the broadcaster. The structure tilts in favour of creators offering a 70:30 split when producers bring in advertising, and 65:35 when monetisation is handled by Prasar Bharati.
Alongside this sits the sponsored model, where producers fully fund and monetise their content, subject to compliance with advertising norms and the AIR Broadcast Code. For those less commercially inclined, a gratis route allows content to be submitted free of cost, with Prasar Bharati retaining all monetisation rights effectively turning the platform into a national distribution channel for diverse voices.
The move comes as legacy media grapples with intensifying competition from private FM networks, streaming platforms and digital audio ecosystems. By repositioning AIR as both a public service broadcaster and a content marketplace, Prasar Bharati appears to be recalibrating its role in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
Importantly, the framework does not dilute editorial control. All submissions must adhere to the AIR Broadcast Code, and proposals are evaluated through a layered process that weighs storytelling quality, production capability, audience appeal and revenue potential. Only proposals crossing a defined threshold move forward, signalling that while access has widened, the bar remains firmly in place.
Operational discipline is another cornerstone of the policy. Producers are required to maintain broadcast-ready content, deliver episode banks in advance and navigate a structured approval process. Crucially, all production costs are borne by the content provider, reinforcing Prasar Bharati’s positioning as a distribution and oversight platform rather than a commissioning entity.
What elevates the initiative further is its scale. The framework spans multiple clusters and stations across India, covering both metro and regional markets, with specific language mandates and submission channels. This not only expands the content pipeline but also deepens linguistic and cultural representation, an area where AIR has historically held an advantage.
In effect, NIPP signals a quiet but meaningful transformation. AIR is no longer just broadcasting to the nation, it is inviting the nation to broadcast with it, blending legacy reach with contemporary content economics in a bid to stay relevant in an increasingly fragmented audio universe.
