ITV

Tag: Doordarshan

  • Free Dish capacity to go up from 80 to 104 TV channels before year-end

    Free Dish capacity to go up from 80 to 104 TV channels before year-end

    NEW DELHI: Free Dish, the country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home television platform, will increase its capacity to carry around 104 channels within the next few months.

    A senior Doordarshan official told indiantelevision.com that the process of switching over from MPEG2 to MPEG4 had been completed and was being tested. This had already taken the headend capacity to 112.

    Free Dish at present carries eighty television channels including its own, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV, and private channels, apart from 32 channels of All India Radio.

    The official said the platform had been encrypted by adopting the Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS) developed by ByDesign India Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore. But he clarified that the platform would remain free-to-air and the aim of iCAS was only to keep track of the number of households that were using Free Dish and keep a check on the quality of set top boxes.

    (It is also learnt that Doordarshan is expected to issue an Expression of Notice within a month for manufacture of compatible STBs for Free Dish.)

    Meanwhile, the official said Free Dish was also hopeful of re-launching Gyan Darshan on its platform shortly as the problems that the Indira Gandhi National Open University was facing when DD was forced to take the channel off-air have been ‘virtually sorted out’.

    However, the official said no communication had been received from the Human Resource Development Ministry in this conection so far.

    He denied reports that any channels of the Human Resource Development Ministry were currently under test transmission on Free Dish.

    The official said DD was aware of the announcement by Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Jawadekar that 32 Direct to Home (DTH) Television Channels are to be launched by September for providing high quality educational content to all teachers, students and citizens across the country interested in lifelong learning.

    DD was also aware that the HRD Ministry had acquired two transponders on G-SAT 15, which could possibly be used for this.

    Meanwhile, the official said that all information on Free Dish was available on the ddindia.gov.in website and denied that Free Dish had established any separate website Freedish.in. When his attention was drawn to the website, he said attempts would be made to find out who was running the website which was clearly illegal.

  • Free Dish capacity to go up from 80 to 104 TV channels before year-end

    Free Dish capacity to go up from 80 to 104 TV channels before year-end

    NEW DELHI: Free Dish, the country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home television platform, will increase its capacity to carry around 104 channels within the next few months.

    A senior Doordarshan official told indiantelevision.com that the process of switching over from MPEG2 to MPEG4 had been completed and was being tested. This had already taken the headend capacity to 112.

    Free Dish at present carries eighty television channels including its own, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV, and private channels, apart from 32 channels of All India Radio.

    The official said the platform had been encrypted by adopting the Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS) developed by ByDesign India Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore. But he clarified that the platform would remain free-to-air and the aim of iCAS was only to keep track of the number of households that were using Free Dish and keep a check on the quality of set top boxes.

    (It is also learnt that Doordarshan is expected to issue an Expression of Notice within a month for manufacture of compatible STBs for Free Dish.)

    Meanwhile, the official said Free Dish was also hopeful of re-launching Gyan Darshan on its platform shortly as the problems that the Indira Gandhi National Open University was facing when DD was forced to take the channel off-air have been ‘virtually sorted out’.

    However, the official said no communication had been received from the Human Resource Development Ministry in this conection so far.

    He denied reports that any channels of the Human Resource Development Ministry were currently under test transmission on Free Dish.

    The official said DD was aware of the announcement by Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Jawadekar that 32 Direct to Home (DTH) Television Channels are to be launched by September for providing high quality educational content to all teachers, students and citizens across the country interested in lifelong learning.

    DD was also aware that the HRD Ministry had acquired two transponders on G-SAT 15, which could possibly be used for this.

    Meanwhile, the official said that all information on Free Dish was available on the ddindia.gov.in website and denied that Free Dish had established any separate website Freedish.in. When his attention was drawn to the website, he said attempts would be made to find out who was running the website which was clearly illegal.

  • Prasar Bharati completes recruitment of 2365 essential posts, no proposal to regularise casuals

    Prasar Bharati completes recruitment of 2365 essential posts, no proposal to regularise casuals

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Government has admitted that there are vacancies in Prasar Bharati, there is no proposal under consideration for regularization of casuals/ contractual employees empanelled or engaged in various Kendras/ Stations of Doordarshan or All India Radio.

    Sources in the pubcaster told indiantelevision.com that the empanelment of casual assignees is on need basis and according to the terms and conditions of engagement/ empanelment of contractuals/ casuals.

    However, the sources said the process of recruitment of 2365 essential posts in various Technical and Non-technical categories has been completed after clearance by the Group of Ministers. This had been undertaken through Staff Selection Commission as a special dispensation with the approval of the Government.

    Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore had told Parliament recently that there is a need to reassess actual requirement of staff in Prasar Bharati keeping in view changes in broadcast technologies.

    He said Prasar Bharati had been advised to carry out a Manpower Audit to identify posts actually needed to be filled up.

    There are 46756 sanctioned posts in Group A, B and C (including erstwhile Group-D).

    This includes 26129 in AIR and 20627 in Doordarshan.

    The sources said there are 8258 casual Announcers, 2622 casual Compere and 97 contractual employees in various Stations of AIR. In addition, there are 18 casual employees and 488 contractual employees in various Doordarshan Kendras.

  • Prasar Bharati completes recruitment of 2365 essential posts, no proposal to regularise casuals

    Prasar Bharati completes recruitment of 2365 essential posts, no proposal to regularise casuals

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Government has admitted that there are vacancies in Prasar Bharati, there is no proposal under consideration for regularization of casuals/ contractual employees empanelled or engaged in various Kendras/ Stations of Doordarshan or All India Radio.

    Sources in the pubcaster told indiantelevision.com that the empanelment of casual assignees is on need basis and according to the terms and conditions of engagement/ empanelment of contractuals/ casuals.

    However, the sources said the process of recruitment of 2365 essential posts in various Technical and Non-technical categories has been completed after clearance by the Group of Ministers. This had been undertaken through Staff Selection Commission as a special dispensation with the approval of the Government.

    Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore had told Parliament recently that there is a need to reassess actual requirement of staff in Prasar Bharati keeping in view changes in broadcast technologies.

    He said Prasar Bharati had been advised to carry out a Manpower Audit to identify posts actually needed to be filled up.

    There are 46756 sanctioned posts in Group A, B and C (including erstwhile Group-D).

    This includes 26129 in AIR and 20627 in Doordarshan.

    The sources said there are 8258 casual Announcers, 2622 casual Compere and 97 contractual employees in various Stations of AIR. In addition, there are 18 casual employees and 488 contractual employees in various Doordarshan Kendras.

  • India-Bangladesh to collaborate on documentary on 1971 war of independence

    India-Bangladesh to collaborate on documentary on 1971 war of independence

    NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh are to jointly collaborate to produce a documentary on the 1971 War of Independence of Bangladesh to mark the 100thbirth anniversary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 2020.

    Information and Broadcasting Minister M Vekaiah Naidu told his Bangladesh counterpart Hasanul Haq Inu here today that the archival material available with Films Division, Doordarshan and other media units would be optimally utilized.

    This documentary is proposed to be produced to commemorate the 50th year of Bangladesh Independence in 2021. Naidu also agreed to the proposal of Inu to facilitate the production of a movie by Bangladesh to coincide with the centenary of Bangabandhu.

    Both sides also agreed to jointly workout a proposal for a joint Audio-visual co-production agreement between the two countries. It was agreed to organize Film Festival of India in Bangladesh and a Bangladesh Film Festival in India.

    The Bangladesh Minister agreed to the request of Naidu to provide the celluloid version of the film Devdas directed by Pramatesh Barua, the Bengali version produced in 1935. Bangladesh had earlier provided the DVD version of the film to National Film Archives of Inda.

    Referring to facilitation of Free Film Trade between the two countries, Naidu said Bangladesh could consider relaxing the legal provisions which restricted the number of Indian films in that country. The easing of restrictions would have a positive impact on the local film industry. The Minister also offered to train the young film makers and entrepreneurs from Bangladesh at the Indian Film and Training Institutes. He also mentioned that collaborative measures would be initiated between the National Film Development Corporation and Bangladesh Film Development Corporation to promote joint production of films and also between NFAI and Bangladesh Film Archives for digitization and archiving.

    The Ministers during their deliberations also agreed to promote capacity building and training workshops for media persons, exchange programme for officers associated with Information and Broadcasting and exchange of programs between DD and its counterpart in Bangladesh.

    Naidu said information dissemination is critical to counter terrorism which is a common issue plaguing both India and Bangladesh. Secretary Ajay Mittal and senior officers of the Ministry were also present in the meeting between the two delegations.

  • India-Bangladesh to collaborate on documentary on 1971 war of independence

    India-Bangladesh to collaborate on documentary on 1971 war of independence

    NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh are to jointly collaborate to produce a documentary on the 1971 War of Independence of Bangladesh to mark the 100thbirth anniversary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 2020.

    Information and Broadcasting Minister M Vekaiah Naidu told his Bangladesh counterpart Hasanul Haq Inu here today that the archival material available with Films Division, Doordarshan and other media units would be optimally utilized.

    This documentary is proposed to be produced to commemorate the 50th year of Bangladesh Independence in 2021. Naidu also agreed to the proposal of Inu to facilitate the production of a movie by Bangladesh to coincide with the centenary of Bangabandhu.

    Both sides also agreed to jointly workout a proposal for a joint Audio-visual co-production agreement between the two countries. It was agreed to organize Film Festival of India in Bangladesh and a Bangladesh Film Festival in India.

    The Bangladesh Minister agreed to the request of Naidu to provide the celluloid version of the film Devdas directed by Pramatesh Barua, the Bengali version produced in 1935. Bangladesh had earlier provided the DVD version of the film to National Film Archives of Inda.

    Referring to facilitation of Free Film Trade between the two countries, Naidu said Bangladesh could consider relaxing the legal provisions which restricted the number of Indian films in that country. The easing of restrictions would have a positive impact on the local film industry. The Minister also offered to train the young film makers and entrepreneurs from Bangladesh at the Indian Film and Training Institutes. He also mentioned that collaborative measures would be initiated between the National Film Development Corporation and Bangladesh Film Development Corporation to promote joint production of films and also between NFAI and Bangladesh Film Archives for digitization and archiving.

    The Ministers during their deliberations also agreed to promote capacity building and training workshops for media persons, exchange programme for officers associated with Information and Broadcasting and exchange of programs between DD and its counterpart in Bangladesh.

    Naidu said information dissemination is critical to counter terrorism which is a common issue plaguing both India and Bangladesh. Secretary Ajay Mittal and senior officers of the Ministry were also present in the meeting between the two delegations.

  • Eight TV channels win Freedish slots, bid price goes above Rs 5 cr

    Eight TV channels win Freedish slots, bid price goes above Rs 5 cr

    NEW DELHI: Setting a new record of getting for Rs 5.3 crore against the reserve price of Rs 4.3 crore, Doordarshan’s DTH platform Freedish bagged as many as eight new channels in the e-auction held last week.

    The channels that successfully bid for slots are Zee Anmol, Rishtey, Star Utsav, Fight Soirts, B4U Music, APN, Vision TV (Housefull Movies), and India 24×7.

    The reserve price which had been Rs 3.7 crore was raised to its present level for the 25th e-auction in January. indiantelevision.com had learnt that the bid amount went up to Rs 4.7 crore in earlier e-auctions. The reserve price in the 15th e-auction was Rs 3 crore and was raised to Rs 3.7 crore in the 16th auction.

    A senior Doordarshan official told indiantelevision.com that the next auction would be held in September, though the exact date had not yet been finalized.

    The official refused to give the figure at which individual channels won the auction, as the exact amount after various adjustments was not yet clear.

    Freedish – which currently carries eighty TV channels and 23 radio channels –also carries two channels as FTA which are otherwise pay channels – Aajtak and Big TV.

    The official clarified that Freedish will be able to carry more channels as it is shortly going on to MPEG4. While it could carry about sixteen channels per transponder but MPEG 4 allows up to 24 TV channels per transponder, apart from radio channels.

    The official said the Indian conditional access system (iCAS) is being used to keep a tab on the number of subscribers, but it would remain free-to-air.

    The platform at present has space for eighty channels including its own channels and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV and also carrues 24 All India Radio channels.

    The e-Auction was conducted by M/s. C1 India Pvt. Ltd., Noida which also conducted the first stage of the FM Radio Phase III auctions on behalf of Prasar Bharati.

    The participation amount (EMD) in the e-Auction was Rs.1.5 crore which was deposited in advance. Incremental amount for the auction was Rs 10 lakh.

    Of the bid price, Rs 1.1 crore will be deposited within one month of placement and another Rs 1.1 crore within two months along with service tax of 14.5 per cent on the bid amount.

    The balance bid amount will be deposited within six months, failing which the deposited amount will be forfeited and the channel discontinued after a 21-day discontinuation notice.

  • Eight TV channels win Freedish slots, bid price goes above Rs 5 cr

    Eight TV channels win Freedish slots, bid price goes above Rs 5 cr

    NEW DELHI: Setting a new record of getting for Rs 5.3 crore against the reserve price of Rs 4.3 crore, Doordarshan’s DTH platform Freedish bagged as many as eight new channels in the e-auction held last week.

    The channels that successfully bid for slots are Zee Anmol, Rishtey, Star Utsav, Fight Soirts, B4U Music, APN, Vision TV (Housefull Movies), and India 24×7.

    The reserve price which had been Rs 3.7 crore was raised to its present level for the 25th e-auction in January. indiantelevision.com had learnt that the bid amount went up to Rs 4.7 crore in earlier e-auctions. The reserve price in the 15th e-auction was Rs 3 crore and was raised to Rs 3.7 crore in the 16th auction.

    A senior Doordarshan official told indiantelevision.com that the next auction would be held in September, though the exact date had not yet been finalized.

    The official refused to give the figure at which individual channels won the auction, as the exact amount after various adjustments was not yet clear.

    Freedish – which currently carries eighty TV channels and 23 radio channels –also carries two channels as FTA which are otherwise pay channels – Aajtak and Big TV.

    The official clarified that Freedish will be able to carry more channels as it is shortly going on to MPEG4. While it could carry about sixteen channels per transponder but MPEG 4 allows up to 24 TV channels per transponder, apart from radio channels.

    The official said the Indian conditional access system (iCAS) is being used to keep a tab on the number of subscribers, but it would remain free-to-air.

    The platform at present has space for eighty channels including its own channels and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV and also carrues 24 All India Radio channels.

    The e-Auction was conducted by M/s. C1 India Pvt. Ltd., Noida which also conducted the first stage of the FM Radio Phase III auctions on behalf of Prasar Bharati.

    The participation amount (EMD) in the e-Auction was Rs.1.5 crore which was deposited in advance. Incremental amount for the auction was Rs 10 lakh.

    Of the bid price, Rs 1.1 crore will be deposited within one month of placement and another Rs 1.1 crore within two months along with service tax of 14.5 per cent on the bid amount.

    The balance bid amount will be deposited within six months, failing which the deposited amount will be forfeited and the channel discontinued after a 21-day discontinuation notice.

  • Private TV Channels urged to carry sign language interpretation of I-Day, freely available from DD channels

    Private TV Channels urged to carry sign language interpretation of I-Day, freely available from DD channels

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry said today that all television channels interested in carrying the live telecast of the forthcoming Independence Day Ceremony/Commentar “may like to carry the signals of DD News/DD Bharati with sign language interpretation for the benefit of differently abled Persons.”

    In a note on the Ministry website mib.nic.in, it said the Ministry has been getting requests from members of the civil society to facilitate access to the people with hearing impairment to the telecast of the Independence Day Ceremony/Commentary accompanied with sign language interpretation on TV channels “so that such people can be part of this glorious ceremony”.

    The public broadcaster Doordarshan will carry the sign language interpretation of the event on DD News/DD Bharati channels to provide access to the people with hearing impairment.

    DD News/DD Bharati will also let private satellite TV channels carry the feed of this event free of cost, if they wish to carry the same telecast.

  • Private TV Channels urged to carry sign language interpretation of I-Day, freely available from DD channels

    Private TV Channels urged to carry sign language interpretation of I-Day, freely available from DD channels

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry said today that all television channels interested in carrying the live telecast of the forthcoming Independence Day Ceremony/Commentar “may like to carry the signals of DD News/DD Bharati with sign language interpretation for the benefit of differently abled Persons.”

    In a note on the Ministry website mib.nic.in, it said the Ministry has been getting requests from members of the civil society to facilitate access to the people with hearing impairment to the telecast of the Independence Day Ceremony/Commentary accompanied with sign language interpretation on TV channels “so that such people can be part of this glorious ceremony”.

    The public broadcaster Doordarshan will carry the sign language interpretation of the event on DD News/DD Bharati channels to provide access to the people with hearing impairment.

    DD News/DD Bharati will also let private satellite TV channels carry the feed of this event free of cost, if they wish to carry the same telecast.