Key Details
PBSHABD (Prasar Bharati Shared Audio-Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination) began as an internal news wire for Akashvani and Doordarshan and evolved into a free multilingual multimedia service through which registered media organisations can access verified text, video, audio, photographs and infographics.
Area | Key Development |
Reach | PBSHABD serves around 3,600 registered media organisations after two years of operation. |
Content Offering | News is available in five formats: text, video, audio, photographs and infographics, across 15 Indian languages and nearly 50 categories. |
Cost | Registered users can access and download content free of charge until March 2027. |
Reporting Network | More than 1,500 reporters, correspondents and stringers, supported by 60 dedicated editorial desks, feed the platform. |
Regional Network | Akashvani operates 46 Regional News Units and 607 daily bulletins in 92 languages and dialects; Doordarshan has 31 Regional News Units and more than 145 bulletins in over 22 languages and dialects. |
Editorial Verification | Stories undergo multiple editorial checks, with safeguards against fake, morphed or manipulated content; material is timestamped, datelined and captioned. |
Newsroom Use | PBSHABD content carries no Prasar Bharati logo and requires no credit line, allowing outlets to publish material directly under their own mastheads. |
Next Phase | PBSHABD 2.0 is planned with additional product lines and improved delivery. |
An Internal News Service Now Supplies Outside Newsrooms
Prasar Bharati–Shared Audio-Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination (PBSHABD) builds on the news-gathering network used by Akashvani and Doordarshan. Until 2024, the Prasar Bharati News Service mainly supplied the broadcaster’s own editorial teams. PBSHABD opened that capacity to registered external outlets.
For a smaller newspaper or regional publisher, the practical offer is national and international coverage without maintaining correspondents everywhere. The five formats also let a newsroom use the feed across print, broadcast and digital products. Because material needs no credit line, an outlet can publish it under its own masthead.
Editorial Checks Are Part of the Offer
Prasar Bharati says material passes through multiple editorial checks before distribution and is timestamped, datelined and captioned. That makes the feed a source of ready-to-use, checked material, though participating newsrooms remain responsible for what they choose to publish.
The reported reach of 3,600 organisations is the current development. The free-access period through March 2027 was announced earlier, in March 2026; it has not been newly extended by this September update.
Policy Relevance
Regional capacity: Shared reporting can help smaller outlets cover developments beyond their own reporting footprint. The number of registered organisations shows uptake; active use and the range of outlets benefitingwould better show its value.
Editorial accountability: Logo-free, credit-free publication makes reuse easy, but leaves the receiving newsroom responsible for selection, context and corrections.
Continuity of access: PBSHABD’s terms after March 2027 will matter most to outlets that come to rely on a free feed. PBSHABD 2.0 remains a plan, not a launched service.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: As PBSHABD expands, what institutional and financing arrangements could keep verified multilingual news affordable for smaller media organisations beyond the current free-access period?
Follow The Full News Here:
Prasar Bharati's Trusted News for India’s Newsrooms