With Public Service Driven Approach, WAVES OTT is enhancing linguistic & cultural diversity of India; Government to Parliament.

With Public Service Driven Approach, WAVES OTT is enhancing linguistic & cultural diversity of India; Government to Parliament.

WAVES OTT has undertaken several partnerships to enhance linguistic and cultural diversity. The platform is working with a wide network of content creators, regional broadcasters, cultural institutions to onboard content on the WAVES OTT platform across multiple Indian languages and dialects. The platform also supports subtitling and metadata enrichment to make diverse content discoverable and accessible to a broader regional audience.

It is also leveraging the regional content strengths of Akashvani and Doordarshan. All 35 Doordarshan Satellite Channels and various regional channels of Akashvani are available on Waves OTT Platform. Additionally, many FTA (free-to-air) broadcasters showcasing regional contents and covering various cultures are also available on WAVES.

WAVES OTT is a free-to-access platform, available on smartphones and internet-enabled devices, ensuring wide digital accessibility. It sets itself apart by offering credible, informative, and culturally rich content drawn from the vast archives and live streams of Akashvani and Doordarshan. The platform’s core strategy emphasizes showcasing Indian heritage, regional diversity, public service programming, and news, alongside select entertainment content — all without any subscription fee.

This public service-driven approach stands in contrast to the commercial, entertainment-centric models of private OTT platforms. The platform has integrated user-centric features to increase accessibility and viewer engagement.

Various promotional and outreach efforts have been undertaken to popularize the WAVES OTT platform in rural and semi-urban areas. These include promotions through Akashvani and Doordarshan channels, as well as the MyGov platform. Targeted social media campaigns in regional languages are being run to reach audiences in these areas. Prasar Bharati has also collaborated with Common Service Centres (CSCs) for on-ground activation through Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs).

This information was submitted by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Dr. L Murugan in Rajya Sabha today.