Prasar Bharati OTT onboards 44 TV channels amid industry objections

A little over a month after inviting applications for onboarding permitted/ licensed satellite TV channels for streaming on its new OTT platform, Prasar Bharati has reportedly received over 100 applications, as per industry sources. Of these, around 44 have been selected.

In its invitation, Prasar Bharati had stated that the streaming would be for a period of one year. The public broadcaster has offered a revenue share of 65% to the channel and 35% to Prasar Bharati.

The genres of content to be streamed range from news and current affairs to entertainment, regional programming, music, and movies. Currently, Prasar Bharati has not mentioned about inclusion of sports in the content slate. The pubcaster has stressed on the OTT platform being family-friendly with ‘clean feed’ of channels.

Meanwhile, Prasar Bharati’s foray into the digital entertainment space is not without some challenges. The pubcaster’s OTT platform is being opposed by cable TV operators and some private broadcasters, who are seeking more clarity from Prasar Bharati regarding the guidelines for its OTT platform.

As per media reports, earlier this month, All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) wroe to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) urging the withdrawal of Prasar Bharati’s notice inviting TV broadcasters for its OTT platform. Cable TV and DTH operators have been losing their subscriber base, who are transitioning to either the DD Freedish platform or other OTT platforms, who also stream linear TV programming. AIDCF also affirmed that Prasar Bharati’s move disrupts uplinking and downlinking guidelines, and also disrupts traditional TV distribution.

It is learnt that four major broadcasting networks have opted not to join Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform. These broadcasters have their own OTT offerings and stream their popular linear TV programmes on their OTT apps instead of streaming their complete channels.

Also Read: AIDCF condemns Prasar Bharati's OTT platform plans