National Media policy a must! DTH at what cost, for whose interests?

THE Minister for Information and Broadcasting announced recently in Parliament that Doordarshan was going ahead with its Direct-to-Home (DTH) service. The reasons given for this launch include that an amount of Rs 160 crore was already spent on the project and that it would help easy and free access to DD channels for the poor, particularly in the North-East, Himachal and Kashmir. Earlier, Prasar Bharati had announced that 15000 dishes and set-top-boxes (STBs) required to receive DTH would be distributed to community centres. Since Dish DTH (by Zee TV) has already been a reality in the country for the last eight months. Doordarshan would be a second player. And a third player (Star TV) is knocking at the door. Perhaps, that is why the minister said: “More the merrier.”