I&B Ministry

Radio goes visual to fight threat from digital technology

Published

20 years ago

June 19, 2006

SINGAPORE: Radio has been an audio medium for over 100 years, but the world is now moving towards digital technology and becoming increasingly visual. Consumers are being offered richer and more interactive media experiences, via digital television, broadband internet and mobile telephony.

Mobile television has become a reality with the launch of services in Korea, the UK and Germany and the mobile internet experience is becoming ever more sophisticated. A number of different developments should happen in order to diversify radio delivery without compromising its unique core values.

GCap Media digital content manager Nick Piggott dwelled on things that went into making radio a visual medium.

Said Piggot, “By which I mean, what radio as a visual medium means, how it might happen, and what evidence exists to make such a bold claim.”

“With this, the unique attributes of radio; personal, portable, pervasive, are under more pressure than ever before. The addition of a visual component to radio adds a new dimension to radio listening, but it should be done sympathetically to avoid undermining radio’s strength as a secondary consumption medium. A variety of ways exist to visualise of radio, and research exists to support the introduction of this new experience,” he said.

The internet can provide limitless opportunities to enhance radio. While most radio stations streams their audio over the internet, and most now include the playing song information, very few use the rich media capabilities of a browser to enhance it, and commercialise it, with effective visualisation.

“The internet is increasingly going mobile; mobile phones have fantastic colour screens, connectivity and can pick radio up either via FM, DAB Digital Radio or streaming over 2.5 and 3G networks. The mobile phone displaced the portable radio as the most ubiquitous personal device a very long time ago, and we probably haven’t been as active as we should have been to get back onto such a widely owned device. Mobile internet is predicted to grow hugely over the next year from 1.2 billion to 2.3 billion page impressions per month in the UK,” he emphasised.

On the other hand, the arrival of DAB Digital Radio has provided another opportunity for visual accompaniment, and whilst DAB is capable of supporting some very sophisticated visualisation techniques, receivers only implement text information, which is known as DLS – Dynamic Label Segment.

“However, text is not the end of the journey for radio entering visualisation. It is just the beginning of a finely timed dance between us, our listeners and device manufacturers. Adding better displays to radios will be expensive, and we need to educate and inform our consumers on the value of visuals so that they can make an informed decision when buying a receiver, and make a choice to pay more for a receiver with a bigger screen knowing that it’s going to give them more real value. Once we’ve moved listeners to better mono screens showing text only, we’re on the way to colour screens showing graphics – but it’s one step at a time,” Piggott cautioned.

So how do we persuade a listener to pay more for their radio, or to choose a device that has got radio with visuals over one that doesn’t? “Two things are true. No amount of great technology will make bad content better. And radio programmers need a lot of persuading to divert any attention or resource away from what comes out of the loudspeaker. Radio works on very short-term targets, with survey results every 4-12 weeks, so trying to get a programmer to think about something that might need two-three years to develop is a big ask,” he said.

While the demand for visual radio is there, it needs to be commercialised too in order to generate additional revenue. “One starting point for understanding the value of this proposition is to identify the value in adjacent opportunities and extrapolate that out,” he said.

In the UK, The Outdoor Advertising Association (OAA) and the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) have co-operated to study the effectiveness of a campaign that combines radio and outdoor images. Their conclusions are that the two media are entirely complimentary and that a combination of the two accelerates the learning of new brand messages.

“It also reconfirms that radio continues to have the lowest ad-avoidance rating of most mainstream media, with only 16 per cent of radio listeners categorised as “Ad avoiders,” compared to 68 per cent for newspapers and 44 per cent for TV.

Piggott said that studies showed that people were more likely to look at a screen to know about something they are interested in. “So from an advertising point of view, it appears that visual radio can be positioned as extending the benefits of combining radio with on-line and outdoor, and benefit from the methodology used to measure the delivery on outdoor video screens. UK figures show that advertisers spent as much on on-line advertising in 2005 as they did on radio (£ 624 million); the outdoor digital screen market isn’t reported separately yet, but is estimated to be worth about £ 34.5 million in 2006,” he said.

“We don’t have time on our side. We can’t wait much longer. If the consumer demand for visual accompaniment continues to grow, and the traditional radio companies don’t provide it, someone else will,” he added.

In conclusion, he said, “Media is going through unprecedented change created by technological innovation. Radio has the opportunity to create a new visualised radio product that listeners want and like and use, but needs to create some technology to make it happen. We haven’t been very good at that in the past, and there are no guarantees that new entrants won’t be far better at it than incumbents. The lines of battle in the radio business are broadening and the smart will deploy some troops there now.”

Related Topics:Piggott dwelled Radio visualisation

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I&B Ministry

MIB sets OTT accessibility rules, mandates captions and audio description

Platforms get three years to add features for hearing and visually impaired

Published

6 days ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW DELHI: The government has asked OTT platforms to make their shows easier to watch and hear. A new set of accessibility guidelines from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting requires streaming services to add features for viewers with hearing and visual impairments.

The move follows the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and is meant to bring streaming closer to the promise of equal access. In simple terms, if a film or series is coming to an OTT platform, it should not arrive empty-handed. It should come with captions for those who cannot hear well and audio descriptions for those who cannot see clearly.

The guidelines ask platforms to provide at least one accessibility feature each for hearing-impaired and visually-impaired viewers. That could be closed captions, open captions, Indian Sign Language interpretation, or audio description. The aim is to make content understandable without turning the viewing experience into a technical chore.

There is, however, a long runway. Platforms have up to thirty six months from the date of the guidelines to ensure that all newly released content carries these accessibility features. Older titles in their libraries are not under strict timelines, but companies are encouraged to add features gradually.

The rules also go beyond the show itself. User interfaces, whether on mobile apps, smart TVs or websites, must be designed to work with assistive technologies. Accessibility labels such as CC for captions, AD for audio description and ISL for sign language must be displayed clearly so viewers know what to expect before pressing play.

Some content types get a free pass. Live events, music, podcasts, and short form content like ads are exempt because of practical challenges in real time captioning and description.

OTT publishers will also need to file accessibility conformance reports. The first report is due three years from now, followed by quarterly updates. Complaints from viewers will follow a three tier system, starting with the platform itself, moving to self-regulatory bodies, and finally reaching a government monitoring committee if needed.

For the streaming industry, the message is clear. Accessibility is no longer a nice extra tucked away in settings. It is fast becoming part of the main feature, and in a country where streaming audiences run into the hundreds of millions, that could make a very big difference to who gets to enjoy the show.

I&B Ministry

I&B’s 2025 report card: Lights, camera, action — and Rs 4,334 crore

Published

1 month ago

January 1, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW DELHI: If 2025 was India’s year to make waves, the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) was its chief surfboard maker. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s call to “create in India, create for the world” wasn’t just ministerial hot air—it triggered a tsunami of creative dealmaking that swept from Melbourne to Madrid, generating Rs 4,334 crores in potential business discussions and putting Indian creators on every continent’s radar.

The centrepiece was Waves 2025, the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit, which drew over 90 countries, 10,000 delegates, and roughly 1 lakh punters through its doors. Modi himself dropped by to glad-hand young creators, describing the event as a “wave of culture, creativity and universal connectivity”—and for once, the hyperbole wasn’t entirely unwarranted.

The summit’s CreatoSphere platform, which sounds like something from a sci-fi novel but is actually a hub for film, VFX, animation, gaming, and digital media, launched the Create in India Challenges. Season one attracted over 1 lakh entries from more than 60 countries across 33 categories. Winners weren’t just handed certificates and sent packing—they performed at Melbourne, exhibited at Tokyo Game Show, and pitched at Toronto International Film Festival. I&B minister Ashwini Vaishnav handed out gongs to 150 creators, cementing the government’s commitment to nurturing what it calls the “creative economy.”

WaveX, the startup arm, proved equally industrious. It coaxed over 200 startups into its embrace, enabled 30 to pitch to Microsoft, Amazon, and Lumikai, and somehow got two of its charges—VYGR News and VIVA Technologies—onto Shark Tank India, where they presumably dodged the usual mauling. The initiative’s KalaaSetu and BhashaSetu challenges, focused on AI-driven video generation and real-time translation respectively, attracted over 100 startups and picked ten for collaboration with government media units.

Waves Bazaar, the “craft-to-commerce” global e-marketplace, went on a roadshow between August and December, hitting 12 international events across four continents and four domestic jamborees. The numbers are eye-watering: over 9,000 B2B meetings, 10 memoranda of understanding signed, three more proposed, and the launch of creative corridors with Japan, Korea, and Australia. The ministry claims Rs 4,334 crores in potential deals—potential being the operative word, though in India’s booming content market, optimism often precedes reality by only a few quarters.

On the bricks-and-mortar front, the Indian Institute of Creative Technology opened its temporary Mumbai campus in July with Rs 391.15 crores in budgetary support. The public-private partnership with Ficci and CII has enrolled over 100 students across 18 courses, incubated eight startups, and signed memoranda with Google, Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and WPP—a who’s who of tech giants keen to tap India’s creative reserves. A permanent 10 acre campus at Film City, Goregaon, complete with an immersive AR/VR/XR studio, is in the works.

Elsewhere, the ministry set up a Live Events Development Cell to position India’s concert economy as a growth driver. A single-window clearance system is being built on the India Cine Hub platform to expedite permissions for fire, traffic, and municipal approvals—addressing the red-tape nightmares that have long plagued event organisers. Meanwhile, an inter-ministerial committee is tackling digital piracy, that perennial thorn in the creative economy’s side.

State broadcaster Doordarshan snagged the Election Commission’s media award for voter awareness during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, presented by the president on National Voters’ Day. Community radio added 22 new stations, bringing the total to 551, with workshops and a national sammelan held during Waves to strengthen local broadcasting.

The 56th International Film Festival of India in Goa screened over 240 films from 81 countries, threw in the country’s first AI Film Festival, and staged a grand parade through Panaji that turned the event into a street-level celebration. The accompanying Waves Film Bazaar drew over 2,500 delegates from 40-plus countries and showcased 320 projects—making it one of South Asia’s largest film markets.

The Central Board of Film Certification modernised too, launching a multilingual certification module that allows multiple language versions under a single application, and mandating 50 per cent women’s participation on examining and revising committees. Digital signatures replaced wet ink, and certificates became downloadable—small victories in the fight against bureaucratic inertia.

India’s I&B ministry ended 2025 having turned content creation into something resembling an industrial policy. Whether Rs 4,334 crores in “potential” business materialises remains to be seen, but the ministry has built the infrastructure, corralled the startups, and put Indian creators on international stages. As Modi might say, the wave has been ridden. Now comes the hard part: keeping the momentum going when the cameras stop rolling.

I&B Ministry

Centre drafts OTT rules to boost access for hearing disabled

Published

2 months ago

December 12, 2025

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: The Centre has inched closer to making India’s streaming universe easier to watch, hear and enjoy for everyone. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has released draft guidelines that aim to standardise accessibility on OTT platforms, ensuring that viewers with hearing and visual impairments are no longer left out of the country’s digital entertainment boom.

Issued on 7 October and now open for public consultation, the draft rules arrive with constitutional and global backing. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan told the Rajya Sabha that the framework draws from Article 14, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. It also mirrors the Code of Ethics under the IT Rules, 2021.

At the heart of the proposal is a two-phase rollout of mandatory accessibility tools such as same-language closed captions and audio descriptions. The ministry said penalties and enforcement steps will be shaped after the consultation, but compliance will be tracked through progressive targets for OTT content libraries.

Parliament was also reminded that the broadcast sector has walked this path before. In 2019, the government notified accessibility standards for television programming, starting with Prasar Bharati and eventually extending them to private broadcasters.

With OTT viewership climbing across urban and small-town India, the draft rules attempt to bring streaming giants in step with a wider vision of inclusive media. The government hopes the move will help millions of Indians with disabilities press play without barriers.