Efforts afoot to have built-in satellite tuners in TV sets: Anurag Thakur

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday said efforts are afoot to have a built-in satellite tuner in television sets to offer access to over 200 channels, a move that could make set-top boxes redundant. He said there has been a humongous expansion of general entertainment channels on Free Dish, which has helped attract crores of viewers.

“I have made a new beginning in my department. If your television has a built-in satellite tuner, then there will be no need to have a separate set-top box. One can have access to more than 200 channels at the click of the remote,” he told mediapersons in Mumbai. The minister, however, made it clear that the decision in this matter is yet to be taken. Last December, Thakur had written to Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to issue directions to television manufacturers to adopt the standards issued by the Bureau of Industrial Standards for built-in satellite tuners. Television sets with built-in satellite tuners would enable reception of free-to-air television and radio channels by mounting a small antenna at a suitable place such as at the rooftop or side wall of a building. At present, television viewers need to purchase a set-top box for viewing various paid and free channels.

“Today there are about 55 such channels and state governments are starting their own channels separately. Apart from news channels, there has been tremendous expansion of general entertainment channels on Free Dish,” he added.