Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha TV channels have been integrated by the Indian Parliament to create Sansad TV - a new platform that will continue to live telecast house proceedings and also pack news and current affairs programmes in Hindi and English. As per officials, the Rajya Sabha TV establishment that runs from a leased public property adjacent to the Talkatora stadium will be united with the LSTV’s infrastructure to create the new entity.
Former textiles secretary Ravi Kapoor has been appointed as the CEO of the new TV channel for one year on a contract basis. The plan to merge these two TV channels was recommended by an expert panel headed by Prasar Bharati CEO Surya Prakash in 2019. The new entity aims at cost-cutting, streamlining management of the channel and reorganising the content to make it a more attractive product for viewers and advertisers. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV both were profit-making entities and the channels got advertisements primarily from public sector giants and central ministries.
According to the new plan, Sansad TV will operate two platforms or channels to ensure a hassle-free telecast of live proceedings of the two Houses of Parliament.
A senior officer involved in the plan informed that during the recess, the options would be to run current affairs channels in English and Hindi or just shut down one channel and run programmes on the other. “The integrated plan would be a major cost-saving exercise as the RSTV shells out ₹10-12 crore on rent alone for its office and studio on the Talkatora Road,” said a senior official added.
The new address for the Sansad TV will be a small bungalow at Mahadev Road that also houses a kennel for 8 sniffer dogs of the Parliament security service. While there is a studio in the Parliament library building for the Lok Sabha TV and a feed centre on the first floor of the Parliament building which will be enough infrastructure for running the Sansad TV, the officials said.