India's Public Broadcaster Rolls Out Free News Feed Service for Media Outlets

Prasar Bharati, India's public service broadcaster, has launched a free news feed service called PBSHABD. The service, which was previously an internal news wire, is now open to registered media organisations and provides news in various formats. PBSHABD serves 3,600 media organisations and is free up to March 2027.

Source

PIB →

Quick Revision

Prelims-testable facts

01Prasar Bharati's Shared Audio-Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination (PB-SHABD) platform was launched in March 2024.
02PB-SHABD provides free, ready-to-use news in text, video, audio, photo, and infographic formats to registered media organisations.
03The platform is available in 15 Indian languages and serves 3,600 media organisations.
04PB-SHABD is a free service up to March 2027.
05The content on PB-SHABD is gathered through a nationwide network and verified through multiple layers of editorial checks.
06Prasar Bharati is India's public service broadcaster and an autonomous body created by an Act of Parliament in 1990.
07PB-SHABD is a digital news feed managed by India's public service broadcaster to provide verified news stories to media outlets across the country.

Trap alerts

Most people think PB-SHABD was launched to provide news only to Prasar Bharati's editorial teams, but actually it was launched as a free, multi-format news-sharing platform for registered media organisations.
Most people think PB-SHABD is a new initiative, but actually it is an extension of the Prasar Bharati News Service (PBNS) which was launched in 2024.
Most people think PB-SHABD is only available in English, but actually it is available in 15 Indian languages.

Prelims Practice MCQs

Single facteasy

When was PBSHABD launched?

A.13 March 2023
B.13 March 2024
C.23 November 1997
D.23 March 2025

PBSHABD was launched on 13 March 2024 by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) in New Delhi.

Multiple statementsmedium

Consider the following statements regarding PBSHABD: 1. PBSHABD is a free news feed service for the wider media industry. 2. PBSHABD is a paid service for 3,600 media organisations. 3. PBSHABD was launched by the Ministry of External Affairs on 23 November 1997. How many of the above statements are correct?

A.Only one
B.Only two
C.All three
D.None

Statement 1 is true as PBSHABD is a free news feed service for the wider media industry (fact 5). Statement 2 is false as PBSHABD is free up to March 2027 (fact 6). Statement 3 is false as PBSHABD was launched by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on 13 March 2024 (fact 4), not the Ministry of External Affairs, and on a different date.

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