Prasar Bharati seeks to onboard private satellite TV channels on its OTT platform

Interested parties must submit their applications by August 12.

Prasar Bharati- the state-owned public broadcaster, is seeking applications from TV broadcasters who are interested in streaming their linear TV channels on its soon-to-be-launched over-the-top (OTT) platform for one year. However, only channels licenced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for downlinking and distribution throughout India are eligible to apply.

Those who are interested can submit their applications by August 12. The public broadcaster will categorise TV channels on the proposed OTT app into four groups based on language and genre, including English news channels, Hindi news channels, non-news channels (all languages), and non-news channels (regional).

The public broadcaster has also proposed a 65:35 revenue share for TV channels, with 65% going to the channel and the public broadcaster retaining the rest. Prasar Bharati will also insert ads on the OTT stream based on the availability of the SCTE-35 marker at the appropriate juncture. Unsold commercial time will be used for running promos of Prasar Bharati and its partner channels.

Prasar Bharati will issue a letter of allotment to the successful channels, who have to sign an agreement within 15 days of receiving it. They will also use the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) rate card to rank all applicant TV channels. Channels with the highest DAVP rates in their respective categories will be allowed to place their channels on the OTT platform.

A few months ago, Prasar Bharti had announced that it is all set to launch an OTT platfrom that promotes Indian culture, values and will broadcast family-friendly content.