Prasar Bharati Aims to Add Private Satellite TV Channels to Its OTT Platform

Prasar Bharati is targeting TV Broadcasters to apply for the opportunity to stream their linear TV channels on its upcoming over-the-top (OTT) platform for a period of one year.

Prasar Bharati’s notification shows that only channels licensed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for networking and distribution across India are permitted to apply.

Deadline of the application is August 12. 

Prasar Bharati aims to introduce an OTT platform this month to promote Indian values and Knowledge with family-friendly content. 

Broadcasters wishing to feature their channels on the Prasar Bharati OTT platforms must assist SCTE-35/ad maker-enabled feeds that designate the beginning and end time of ad breaks. 

The public broadcaster plans to categorize TV channels on the proposed OTT app into four groups based on language and genre: English news channels, Hindi news channels, non-news channels in different languages and regional non-news channels. 

Prasar Bharati has suggested a 65:35 income split for TV channels, with 65% assigned to the channel and public broadcaster keeping the remaining portion. 

This income share will be set after reducing Prasar Bharati’s costs for the channel, such as transcoding, CDN expenses, and agency commissions.

Successful channels will provide good and clean contents for streaming on the OTT platforms. 

Prasar Bharati will insert ads into the OTT stream at proper intervals, using the SCTE-35 marker to decide when to place them.  

Unsold commercial slots will be deployed for airing promotions for Prasar Bharati and its partner channels.

The Directorate of advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) rate card will be employed to evaluate and rank all applying TV channels. 

Channels with the highest DAVP rates in their categories will be allowed to feature their channels on the OTT platform. 

Prasar Bharati will issue a letter of allocation to the selected channels, which must sign a pact within 15 days of receipt.