I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati targets Rs 7,500 million in revenues
Information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj, responding to recent criticism directed at Prasar Bharati, promised yesterday in parliament that the public broadcaster had taken steps to increase revenues, adding it had set itself a revenue goal of Rs7,500 million.
Henceforth, Prasar Bharati would adopt a “proactive and market friendly approach towards producers, advertisers, ad agencies and sponsoring bodies,” Swaraj said.
Swaraj also stated that regional centres would get “functional autonomy” regarding commercial matters. Swaraj added that an in-house marketing wing would be set up in Mumbai which would have the responsibility of ensuring programmes were marketed effectively. Swaraj said Prasar Bharati had set a target of RS 7,500 million in revenue collections for 2001-02.
The standing committee on information technology, a body constituted by parliament, had in a report recently slammed Prasar Bharati for the decline in the number of in-house programmes, lack of marketing machinery and poor reception quality of Doordarshan.
The report said: ”Private channels have set up an effective marketing machinery in terms of infrastructure and manpower and they are able to attract business, which otherwise should have come to Prasar Bharati.”
The report advised Prasar Bharati that it should modify and strengthen its marketing system in an organised and systematic way without further loss of time.
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.
