I&B Ministry
Tewari justifies rules for regulation of television audience rating agencies
NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Manish Tewari today addressed the attendees of the fifth CEOs round table conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries today. He said that the television rating points rules are an attempt to make the process transparent, credible and accountable. At the same time, the endeavour was to address aberrations in the existing rating system.
Tewari added that this initiative was based on the past recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Information Technology, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Amit Mitra Committee.
The Government had also been approached in the past by the industry stakeholders to rectify the existing flaws. The long term objective was an attempt to usher a system with defined rules within an existing framework.
Meanwhile, he said the digitisation process during Phase III and IV would have to focus on the interest of the consumers in order to ensure that they were partners in the process rather than adversaries.
For this purpose, the industry would have to run a focussed consumer awareness campaign, whereby the consumer would have to be sensitized about the benefits accruing from this process.
Tewari said the campaign would have to focus on improved quality of viewing and related qualitative benefits accruing to the consumer as a result of the implementation process. The lessons of the implementation during Phase I and Phase II would also have to be taken into account while outlining the implementation roadmap for the remaining phases.
For digitization to succeed, the industry would have to make efforts to ensure that the consumer was an integral component in the digitisation value chain. At the same time, the comprehensive approach would also ensure the emergence of viable business model for the industry.
On the issue of monopolies in the cable TV sector, Tewari said that regulator had already made its recommendation and the issues involved were being examined by the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC).
The Minister also said that the regulatory framework ought to be stable and transparent for all stakeholders for the broadcasting sector to grow. This would ensure orderly growth for the sector in the long run
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.
