TRAI: DD Free Dish platform needs to be upgraded to addressable systems

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its recommendations on the formulation of National Broadcasting Policy – 2024, in a document dated June 20, 2024. The objective of this document is to lay down a consistent policy and principles framework, that will enable creation of a vibrant marketplace for content production and distribution, fostering creativity and elevating India’s soft power globally, TRAI said.

India’s television broadcasting landscape has a large number of service providers, comprising of 330 broadcasters, 859 registered MSOs, 1 HITS operator and 4 pay DTH operators. Besides, there is a free-to-air DTH service – ‘DD Free Dish’, owned and operated by the public service broadcaster, Prasar Bharati. On the radio front, while All India Radio (AIR) is the radio vertical of the country’s public service broadcaster, there are 388 private FM radio stations operating in India.

One of the stated goals in the paper is to strengthen public service broadcasting. The previously published consultation paper highlighted areas like modernizing and strengthening of public service broadcaster for quality content production and dissemination. It also discussed establishing of digital platforms like those in Canada and Denmark to widen its global reach.

Global Reach
TRAI stated that Prasar Bharati should sign bilateral agreements/MoUs which would facilitate distribution of content in other countries, in developing partnerships with international broadcasters and exploring new strategies to address the demands of emerging technologies.

AIR should establish content-sharing agreements through MoUs with radio stations in other countries. This would allow AIR content to be broadcast on digital multicast channels in those markets, while also providing access to international content for expatriates and workers living in India.

The Authority, therefore, is of the view that the Government should provide sufficient funding for the development of quality content production and further dissemination of television and radio services of Doordarshan and AIR.

Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform
To enhance content outreach, Prasar Bharati is considering launching its own OTT platform. TRAI states that Prasar Bharati’s efforts should focus on content, technology, user experience and strategic promotion to create popular OTT platforms. Collaborating with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for policy support and funding will be essential for developing popular OTT platforms, the authority stated.

As reported previously, the public broadcaster is in fact accelerating its foray into the OTT space, seeking media sales muscle. After releasing a draft RFP (Request for Proposal) last year outlining the platform’s features and goals, the pubcaster issued a fresh e-tender on April 19, 2024 for a multimedia and media sales agency contract, as reported by Storyboard18 exclusively.

The Authority believes that Prasar Bharati should expand its FM infrastructure to cover more regions of the country and, with support from MIB, should switch to digital radio by bringing out a transition plan providing appropriate protection for analog radio during the interim period. Prasar Bharati needs to ensure that digital radio broadcast system should be able to accommodate future upgrades, features and services, it stated: “The transmission should be in multiple languages to cater to the linguistic diversity of India. Moreover, it is also required to be ensured that the ecosystem of digital radio receivers gets developed and the digital radio receivers are commercially available at reasonable and affordable prices.”

DD Free Dish
TRAI noted that there are concerns with the non-addressable ‘DD Free Dish’ platform. Presently, there is no effective mechanism to authenticate data about the number of subscribers accessing DD Free Dish services. Various reports reveal different data for DD Free Dish households. While some reports indicate there are 45 million households with DD Free Dish, other sources suggests that the number of DD Free Dish households are at 58 million, reflecting a huge difference in the subscriber’s data.

Addressability of DD Free Dish STBs would provide a possible breakthrough to get the exact subscriber counts, TRAI stated, calling for the upgradation of the non-addressable ‘DD Free Dish’ platform to addressable systems.

Addressability enables efficient transmission of television signals through a STB installed at the customer’s premises, facilitating conditional access and ensuring content security. The installation of a Subscriber Management System (SMS) linked to the STB enables the generation of accurate subscriber-wise data, management of subscriber information, channel details and other related activities, thereby enhancing the quality of service provided to subscribers.

The telecom authority stated that to leverage the potential benefits of the addressable system and to fulfil the mandate of Prasar Bharati of delivering quality content and services in public interest, ‘DD Free Dish’ platform needs to be upgraded to addressable systems in a time-bound manner with a defined sunset date. This would also address the issue of level playing field with private television channels.

Snapshot of TRAI recommendations
Reinvigorating public service broadcaster for quality content creation and distribution

Quality content creation and distribution

• Providing adequate support and funds from the Government to Prasar Bharati for upgrading and expanding the broadcasting infrastructure for developing high quality and innovative content to enable people especially from marginalized and underprivileged communities to have quality experience.
• Enhancing production capacity and upgrading studios to support high-quality content creation and post-production facilities for television, radio and OTT platforms to widen its reach.
• Bolstering strategic partnerships and collaborations with international broadcasters, content creators and media organizations to co-produce and distribute content, exchange expertise and expand global reach.

OTT platforms

•  Developing OTT platforms by Prasar Bharati for the promotion of the content of Doordarshan and AIR channels.
• Developing facilities for creating new age media utilizing technologies like 3D technology, AR-VR, animation, sound technologies and other emerging platforms and tools for immersive viewing and listening experience.
• Leveraging the extensive archives of content library of Doordarshan and AIR, especially, erstwhile popular content, by remastering and relaunching it for the audience including new age audiences

All India Radio

• Developing transmission infrastructure and content creation to extend the reach of AIR to the uncovered areas of the country.
• Enabling Prasar Bharati for developing the ecosystem for transition from analog to digital radio transmission in a phased manner to become fully digital within three years.
•  Establishing content-sharing relationships between AIR and radio stations of other countries enabling reach of AIR content at global level.
• Creating standards for digital radio in collaboration with Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC).

DD Free Dish

• Enabling addressable systems for ‘DD Free Dish’ platform to maintain subscribers’ detail, ensuring quality of service and preventing unauthorized distribution of the content to address the issue of level playing field particularly for the private television channels.
• Promoting the availability of programmes and channels of friendly neighboring countries on the platform of Doordarshan and ‘DD Free Dish’ and vice-versa.

StoryBoard18