Sansad Television is the Parliamentary Channel of India. It was launched on September 15, 2021 by merging Lok Sabha Television and Rajya Sabha Television Channels. It’s vision (according to its LSTV website), is to access the reach of the “live proceedings of the Parliament House…to every household”.
Speaker Sri Somnath Chatterjee’s idea
Lok Sabha TV is the older than RSTV — it started operating on July 24, 2006. The channel’s vision, according to its LSTV website, is to reach the “live proceedings of the Parliament House…to every household”. This is because “awareness of citizens towards the working of Member of Parliament in the Parliament House helps in bringing awareness about various efforts of various stakeholders in the governance process”, and “the information empowers the citizens to utilise their democratic rights diligently and be part of the democratic ecosystem”
History of live telecast
There was no telecast of live proceedings till 1988.
Some Parliamentary proceedings have been telecast in India since 1989, when the President’s address to Parliament was shown on live television.
After 1994 the Question Hours of both Houses were broadcast live on alternate weeks on both satellite television and All India Radio.
As per LSTV Website “It was arranged in such a manner that during the telecast of the Question Hour of one House by Doordarshan, the Question Hour of the other House was broadcast by All India Radio,”
When the DD News channel was launched, Question Hour in both Houses started getting telecast simultaneously on DD channels.
With efforts of the Lok Sabha and Prasar Bharati, in 2004 two dedicated satellite channels were set up to telecast live the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament.
In 2006, DD Lok Sabha was replaced by Lok Sabha TV (LSTV), a 24-hour TV channel broadcasting in Hindi and English, which is owned and operated entirely by the Lok Sabha itself, broadcasting live the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and also various cultural and educational programs and panel discussions, when the Lok Sabha is not in session.
Rajyasabha TV
RSTV was launched in 2011. Apart from telecasting live the proceedings in Rajya Sabha, it also brings analyses of parliamentary affairs, and provides a platform for knowledge-based programmes.
REACH OF SANSAD TV (LOK SABHA):
Amendments in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 have been madeby the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, making it compulsory for each cable andDTH Multisystem Operator (MSO) and Local Cable Operator (LCO) to must carry SansadTV (LS), Sansad TV (RS) and Sansad TV HD Channels. Hence, Sansad TV Channels areavailable on all Cable and Satellite platforms licensed in the country.
Beside the real timelinear distribution, the Sansad TV channels are also live streamed on Sansad TV YouTubeChannel and also on Sansad TV Website and Mobile App. Play list of past programmes isavailable on Sansad TV YouTube channel for non-linear viewing at any time and place as perconvenience of the viewer. Sansad TV Channels are also available on Jio OTT Platform. Thus, Sansad TV is available on all platforms of TV signal distribution and has the widestpossible reach in the country. Estimated TV households in the country are 210 million ofwhich Cable and Satellite penetration is nearly 80%. Hence, Sansad TV reaches to estimated80% of TV household in the country.
SANSAD TV WEBSITE AND MOBILE
In order to enhance reach of the channel and also to provide information about the LokSabha Proceedings and popular programmes of Sansad TV, a Sansad TV Website waslaunched at the time of Launch of Sansad TV on 15th September. Both the channels of SansadTV viz. Sansad TV (LS) and Sansad TV (RS) are live streamed on the website. The websiteis available at the domain www.sansad.nic.in. Due to its global reach, the website extendsthe reach of the Sansad TV to the global audiences.
Subsequently a Sansad TV Mobile Appwas also launched in the month of October 2021 which is available on Google play store andapple App store for both Mac and android mobile users. Both the Sansad TV channels arealso available as live stream on the Sansad TV Mobile App. Beside live stream, the Appprovides link to Sansad TV YouTube channels where playlists of all popular programmes ofSansad TV are available and can be viewed through the Mobile App on Mobile sets.
