New Delhi: The Board of Public service broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, has decided to finalise the FreeDish policy in a meeting held on Monday. The Board has given approval to Doordarshan which operates the entity, according to a report of Asian age. It is understood that the finalised version will be presented to Information and Broadcasting Ministry (MIB).
The decision was delayed in the previous meeting with a hesitation that the directive could “wreck the finances of Prasar Bharati, as the policy is likely to consider MIB’s direction to stop all e-auction of channels, according to the referred report.
Further, PTI reported that the broadcaster was asked earlier by the MIB to review the continuation of FreeDish. As they had a feeling that only private channels will find this programme beneficial and the government would undergo recurring liability. FreeDish has a reach of 22 million subscribers.
FreeDish was looking to adopt MPEG4 technology to carry more channels as it presently carries 80 channels only. The issue had been put into the sight of the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal last year when channels reacted to its decision to suspend auctions after which an interim order allowed channels to continue to a pro rata basis till it decides on a new policy.
