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Digitisation drive: TVs to go blank for 2 minutes thrice every evening for 3 days
MUMBAI: The government and the broadcasters have got together to launch a major campaign pushing digitisation in the four metros, making television viewers realise that they will have to make the switch from analogue cable to digital before the 1 November deadline.
Television sets across the country will go blank for two minutes thrice every evening for three days beginning Friday.
All TV channels under the Indian Broadcasting Foundation’s (IBF) umbrella will beam Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry’s 30 second ad at the beginning of the two-minute period when broadcast of all programming will be suspended. The ads will be broadcast at 7:58 pm, 8:58 pm and 9:58 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The move comes in the wake of a sluggish demand for digital set-top boxes (STBs) even as the deadline is just 45 days away. Cable television services from 1 November will mandatorily shift to digital technology through STBs in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.
According to Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri, the aim of the ad is to spread the message that television viewers have to buy a STB or else their television will go blank from 1 November.
Even though shift to digitisation is happening in the four metros, the message is being broadcast across the country as it is not possible for broadcasters to restrict such a message to just the four metros.
The initiative is that of the I&B ministry in association with the IBF and News Broadcasters Association (NBA). This suggests shows that the digitisation deadline has been taken seriously this time and the government is pushing for it.
The government had recently cancelled registration of two multi-system operators (MSOs) from Delhi for not providing information on their preparedness for switching to digital delivery.
The shift to digital delivery was to happen from 1 July 2012 but had to be postponed to 1 November due to lack of preparedness of cable TV networks.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
