Prasar Bharati Drafts Content Syndication Policy 2025 to Monetise Public Media

As part of the policy formulation process, Prasar Bharati undertook a structured industry-wide consultation with key stakeholders across the media and digital ecosystem.

Prasar Bharati has formulated a Draft Content Syndication Policy, 2025 with the dual objective of expanding India’s cultural outreach and monetising its vast content repository, while continuing to uphold its public service broadcasting mandate. The draft policy has been placed in the public domain on the Prasar Bharati website to invite comments and suggestions from stakeholders and the general public.

As part of the policy formulation process, Prasar Bharati undertook a structured industry-wide consultation with key stakeholders across the media and digital ecosystem. These consultations included OTT platforms, linear television broadcasters, radio networks, telecom service providers, IPTV operators, and content aggregators. The exercise was aimed at aligning the policy with evolving industry practices, market realities, and emerging digital distribution models.

The draft policy focuses on monetisation of content produced by Doordarshan and Akashvani, including both current programming and a rich archive of national and regional content. It also covers live broadcasts and special coverage of government events, national festivals, cultural programmes, sports events, and other significant public interest content. In addition, the policy recognises the growing importance of digital-first content created specifically for Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform and provides a framework for its syndication and commercial exploitation.

Further, the proposed policy enables monetisation of commissioned programmes, co-produced content, licensed content, and other intellectual property owned by Prasar Bharati. This is intended to unlock the economic value of public broadcaster-owned content while ensuring transparency, fair valuation, and protection of public interest.

A key objective of the Draft Content Syndication Policy is to encourage strategic collaborations with both domestic and international platforms. By facilitating wider distribution of Prasar Bharati’s content, the policy seeks to enhance visibility of India’s cultural heritage, linguistic diversity, and public service programming on global platforms, thereby strengthening India’s soft power and cultural presence worldwide.

To ensure flexibility and industry participation, the policy proposes multiple licensing and commercial models. These include flat-fee arrangements, revenue-sharing models, and hybrid structures such as minimum guarantee with revenue share. Such flexibility is expected to attract a wide range of partners while optimising revenue generation in line with market dynamics.

The information regarding the Draft Content Syndication Policy, 2025 was submitted by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Dr L. Murugan, in the Lok Sabha today. The response was given to a question raised by Shri Selvaganapathi T.M., highlighting the government’s intent to modernise public broadcasting operations while maintaining their core public service role.