More than 1,200 Doordarshan Analogue Terrestrial TV (ATT) transmitters have been shut down in a phased manner as they had become obsolete, said Anurag Singh Thakur, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, on Thursday.
In a written response to the question raised by Rajya Sabha Member Prasanna Acharya, Mr. Thakur said the ATT transmitters of Doordarshan carrying only one channel had lost their relevance.
This, in view of emerging trends in the broadcasting and availability of “DD Free Dish”, a free-to-air Direct to Home service of Prasar Bharati, under which over 150 TV channels including 51 educational ones were being provided free of cost, without any monthly subscription. “The signals of ‘DD Free Dish’ can be received in the country with the help of small sized low cost dish receive units,” said the reply.
