I&B Ministry
Standing Committee wants complete digitisation before amending act on illegal channels
NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary Standing Committee has opposed any amendments to the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Act 1995 with regards to illegal channels.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that the Committee on Information Technology in its 36th report observed that the requirement of amending legislation may not be feasible in view of the ongoing process of digitisation of cable network as it can provide solution to address the issue of showing illegal / unregistered channels on the cable networks.
The Ministry had been informed by security agencies about carriage of some unregistered foreign channels by cable operators.
To address the problem of carriage of unregistered channels by cable operators, the Ministry had introduced the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Second Amendment Bill, 2011 in Lok Sabha on 15 December 2011 but this was referred to the Standing Committee.
There are 93 private satellite TV channels which are Uplinked from outside India and have been granted permission to downlink in India under the policy guidelines for Downlinking of Television Channels.
The scheme of enforcement envisaged under this Act is primarily through the authorized officers who are district magistrate, sub divisional magistrate and the commissioner of police of the State Governments.
Whenever a complaint is brought to the notice of the Ministry, they are sent to the authorized officers since the action as per the Act primarily remains in the domain of authorized officers, the sources said.
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.
