MUMBAI: There are 269 pay
TV channels in the country out of 885 channels permitted
by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), according to data available till 30 April.
“Presently, 885 satellite
TV channels are permitted by the ministry under the uplinking/downlinking
guidelines,” Minister of State in the MIB Col Rajyavardhan Rathore said in
the Lok Sabha. “Out of these, 269 channels have been reported as pay channels
by the broadcasters to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI),” he
added.
Rathore further stated that Prasar
Bharati’s free-to-air (FTA) direct-to-home (DTH) platform Freedish is carrying
80 channels, which is expected to go up to 250 channels in 12th Plan scheme.
Prasar Bharati, he stated, has informed that All India Radio (AIR) has 23 FTA
channels on Freedish.
The pubcaster has proposed to start 16
more FTA channels on the DTH platform. In response to another question,
Rathore ruled out putting a cap on the number of TV channels in the country. He
stated that in 2011 the MIB had accepted TRAI’s recommendations dated 22
July 2010 that no cap be placed on the number of satellite broadcasting
channels to be downlinked for viewing in India or to be uplinked from India.
The ministry, Rathore said, had also
accepted TRAI’s recommendation to set a higher net worth criteria for applicant
companies intending to operate news as well as non-news TV channels. It
had also recommended introducing experience clause for top executives of such
broadcaster companies. The Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines were amended
with the approval of the Cabinet after carrying out due consultation with
other ministries/departments.
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