Ashish Ranjan
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur announced on Monday that attempts are underway to include a satellite tuner in televisions that would provide access to more than 200 channels, allowing people to watch programmes without set-top boxes. Televisions with built-in satellite tuners would permit reception of free-to-air television and radio channels by placing a tiny antenna on a rooftop or building side wall.
Anurag Thakur, speaking to the media today, stated that the massive increase of general entertainment channels on Doordarshan’s Free Dish had helped draw billions of people.
“I’ve made a fresh start in my department. If your television has an integrated satellite tuner, you will not need a separate set-top box. One can access more than 200 channels by using the remote control “While answering to a query, he stated.
However, the minister made it plain that a decision has not yet been made in this case.Free-to-air channels will continue to be transmitted via digital satellite transmission as Doordarshan phases out analogue transmission.
In December of last year, Thakur wrote to the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, requesting that television manufacturers accept the Bureau of Industrial Specifications’ standards for built-in satellite tuners.
Currently, viewers must purchase a set-top box in order to access multiple paid and free channels.Even for the reception of Doordarshan’s non-encrypted, over-the-air (non-pay) channels, a set-top box is necessary.
Since 2015, the number of households with Doordarshan Free Dish has more than doubled.In 2015, KPMG estimated that Free Dish subscribers numbered 20 million. In 2021, the number had climbed to 43 million.
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Thakur stated that, under the instruction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, SWAYAM Prabha channels for classes 1 through 12 were launched in record time during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to ensure that the poor and rural residents had access to education.
“There are currently approximately 55 such channels, and state governments are launching their own networks independently. Free Dish has seen a phenomenal development of general entertainment channels in addition to news channels “he noted.
