Applications
Govt sets up system to track TV channel applications
NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has introduced a ‘Satellite TV Channels Application Tracking System’ (STATS) to bring complete transparency in the entire system of approvals for new channels.
This first-ever initiative allows applicants to get updates on the status of their applications online. Software developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) will enable companies to log on to an especially designed programme to know the status of their applications. The link has been made available on the website of the Ministry, www.mib.nic.in.
The applicant companies can log on with their Unique Company Identification Number (CIN) and a password to use the software. Each company can see the information related to the channels for which they have applied. In addition to the status of the channels, companies can also get information regarding the status of their applications, regarding SNG/DSNG vans, change of name, change of logo, change of directors of the company, change in the shareholding pattern, extension of period of operationalisation and licence renewal.
This initiative follows the start of the system introduced a couple of months earlier of Open House meetings on the 5th of every month where applicant companies can participate and get information about the status of their applications.
The Ministry has urged the applicant companies to make full use of the software and actively engage with the Ministry by giving their comments and suggestions for further improvement.
Under the Policy Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of private TV notified in 2005, the Ministry has till date permitted 516 private channels. Permissions have also been given to set up 78 teleports.
Applications
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.
