The Indian broadcasting industry has long been a cornerstone of the nation’s media landscape, evolving significantly from its humble beginnings with Doordarshan in 1959.

Over the decades, the sector witnessed seismic shifts—first, the liberalisation wave of the 1990s, which introduced private broadcast and cable networks, followed by the DTH revolution inthe early 2000s.

Most recently, the meteoric rise of Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms is rapidly transforming how content is consumed. However, this rapid growth has exposed glaring regulatory gaps, creating an uneven playing field between traditional TV distribution and OTT services.

In this context, Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform WAVES launch on November 20, 2024, during the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), marked a significant development. The new platform aims to position the national broadcaster as a key player in the digital space. Accompanied by the catchy headline ‘Prasar Bharati Makes WAVES in OTT segment’ the launch was marketed as a “bold step”.

However, behind the marketing gloss lies a troubling question: is WAVES operating within the bounds of existing regulatory frameworks?

Flouting Norms

• Prasar Bharati’s WAVES came under scrutiny following its August 5, 2024, invitation to linear satellite TV channels to be onboarded on the platform. This move has sparked industry-wide concerns over potential regulatory breaches.
• The ‘2022 Uplinking & Downlinking Guidelines of Satellite Television Channels’ clearly outline the permitted avenues for satellite TV channel signal distribution. Clause 11(3)(f) specifies that broadcasters can provide Satellite TV Channel signal reception decoders only to: MSOs/Cable Operators registered under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 or DTH operators registered under the 2020 and 2022 DTH Guidelines; or IPTV providers permitted under the 2008 IPTV Guidelines; or HITS operators permitted under the 2009 and 2020 HITS Guidelines.

• The guidelines are unequivocal: Broadcasters may distribute permitted satellite TV channels exclusively to licensed service providers. They cannot provide satellite TV channel signal reception decoders for private OTT platforms or Prasar Bharati’s WAVES.

• Despite these unambiguous guidelines, WAVES has apparently bypassed the regulatory provisions entirely by inviting satellite TV channels onto its OTT platform.

• WAVES is thus operating outside legally permitted boundaries, raising the question: Is the National Broadcaster not subject to extant regulations? What precedent does this set for private OTT platforms operating in the same space?

 

Deliberate Misinterpretation of Regulations

• It is well-established that the 2022 Uplinking & Downlinking Guidelines apply uniformly to all types of channels transmitted via satellite-based mediums across the country, without exception. Despite this clarity, specific segments of the industry persistently misinterpret these guidelines, suggesting that Prasar Bharati is exempt—an unfounded and misleading claim.

• A related issue was addressed in the July 2024 amendments to the Tariff Regulations, where TRAI explicitly clarified that any channel operating as a Free-to-Air (FTA) channel on DD Free Dish could not simultaneously be offered as a pay channel on addressable distribution platforms.

• This measure was introduced to ensure a level playing field across the industry. However, the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) challenged this recommendation in the Kerala High Court, which dismissed the petition as ‘not maintainable’. IBDF has since filed an appeal in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, in its order dated November 29, 2024, dismissed the Civil Appeal, stating that the IBDF should have approached the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal first.

Regulatory Blind Spot & Domino Effect

• Prasar Bharati’s move highlights a more significant issue: the unchecked rise of poorly regulated OTT platforms. Unlike traditional Broadcasters, these platforms operate outside the purview of regulatory oversight, avoiding registration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and failing to report essential details such as server locations and subscriber data.

• They also stream linear satellite TV channels without authorisation, contributing to rampant content piracy. Many of these OTT platforms also carry scores of channels that do not have permission to downlink in India. These channels are being retransmitted in linear form over the Internet without any regulatory oversight.

• This, harms traditional distribution channels and opens the floodgates for more platforms to flout regulations. Prasar Bharati’s WAVES platform further risks normalising such behaviour, which will exacerbate the issue.

• All these concerns are over and above the fact that OTT platforms, unlike traditional Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs), are not held to the same rigorous standards for content distribution, licensing, or audit standards, creating an uneven playing field that threatens the industry’s integrity.

Conflict of Interest Scenario

• Allowing OTT platforms like WAVES to host linear satellite TV channels raise several critical issues.

• First, it creates a conflict-of-interest scenario where the public Broadcaster competes directly with the domestic broadcasting and the distribution industry.

• Private operators, who have invested heavily in infrastructure and compliance with stringent regulations, are now forced to compete with a publicly funded entity that operates without similar obligations. Such a situation disrupts market dynamics, potentially stifling private sector growth and innovation .

• Prasar Bharati should take inspiration from the BBC, the UnitedKingdom’s public service broadcaster. The BBC has successfully balanced its traditional TV offerings with its digital platform, iPlayer, without unfairly disrupting private market players. The BBC operates under a strict regulatory framework, which prevents it from competing unfairly with commercial broadcasters.

• Secondly, the move highlights the regulatory hotch-potch between traditional broadcasting and internet-based platforms. While traditional DPOs such as Cable TV and DTH are bound by detailed licensing frameworks, compliance requirements, and content regulations, OTT platforms like WAVES remain largely unregulated.

• This duality creates confusion among stakeholders, fosters an environment of unfair competition and destabilises the traditional Pay TV sector.

• Lastly, Pay TV platforms, already grappling with subscriber loss due to the growing reach of DD Free Dish, will now be at an even greater disadvantage with the advent of OTT platforms like WAVES hosting live TV channels.

• From 2018 to 2023, the Pay TV market has witnessed a dramatic 27 percent decline, with the subscriber base plummeting from 161 million to 118 million.

• Prasar Bharati WAVES’ introduction into this fragile ecosystem would accelerate this downward trend, forcing many DPOs to shut down operations. This contraction would further shrink the industry and result in significant job losses, especially in the cable industry.

Contradiction of Values

• WAVES, promoted as a beacon for ‘Indian values, ironically undermines the very principles it claims to champion. By operating outside legal bounds, the government is violating its own regulations and disregarding the fundamental principle of adherence to the law of the land.

• Moreover, the repeated emphasis on WAVES providing ‘clean’ family entertainment highlights the glaring flaws in the poorly regulated OTT landscape, where content frequently violates the Programming Code with impunity.

Need for Holistic Review & Immediate Action

• The market distortion caused by unregulated OTT platforms has peaked with Prasar Bharati’s entry into the OTT space. This development underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive regulatory review.

• The framework should bring all OTT platforms under TRAI’s jurisdiction, including WAVES, ensuring compliance with the ‘Programme Code & Advertisement Code’ and other broadcasting standards. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting should mandate the registration of OTT platforms, thereby classifying them as broadcasting entities, which would bring them under TRAI’s regulatory framework.

• Until a holistic review is done, the Ministry needs to urgently:

 Ensure broadcasters comply with the 2022 Uplinking & Downlinking Guidelines and provide linear satellite TV channel content only to licensed MSOs, DTH, IPTV & HITS.

 Form and enforce suitable restrictions on OTT platforms, including Prasar Bharati’s WAVES, from streaming linear satellite TV channels.

 Take adequate measures, including penalising violations, such as financial disincentives for broadcasters and internet bans for OTT platforms.

Future of Cable TV at Stake

• WAVES is making headlines, and there is no doubt that Prasar Bharati boasts a rich repository of content celebrating Indian history and culture. It has a library featuring timeless shows that evoke nostalgia and foster a deep sense of nationalism

• However, such offerings should not come at the cost of breaching established rules and regulations, fostering unfair competition, and jeopardising the livelihoods of thousands. This development serves as a wake-up call for policymakers to establish a unified framework that ensures all content providers adhere to the same set of rules, regardless of their platform.

• The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting must urgently address the broader implications of this regulatory lacuna. The current situation threatens the very future of the linear TV distribution industry and disrupts the overall ecosystem.

• Left unchecked, this imbalance threatens to destabilise the Broadcasting Industry and ultimately weaken compliance 10mechanisms. The Ministry must act decisively to safeguard the sector’s future, ensuring its ability to innovate, compete, and thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape.

 

(Ashok Mansukhani, the author, is a media veteran having spent decades with the government and private sector media organizations, specializing in legal and policy matters. Having worked in Doordarshan, he retired few years back from the Hinduja group having being part of the leadership team that built the group’s media business. He practises law at the Bombay High Court specialising in Media and Corporate Law. The views expressed in the write-up are those of the author and Indianbroadcastingworld.com need not necessarily subscribe to them.)