WAVES OTT has crossed 84 lakh users: Govt

The information was shared by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr. L. Murugan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha

by e4m Staff
Published: Mar 18, 2026 5:51 PM | 2 min read

Prasar Bharati’s digital streaming platform WAVES OTT has crossed 84 lakh registered users since its launch in November 2024. The information was shared by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr. L. Murugan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The platform was launched as a one-stop destination for a wide range of content spanning radio and TV channels, web series, films, live events, educational programming and archival material. The government said the service is seeing adoption across regions, including districts such as Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, highlighting its expanding footprint beyond metro audiences.

According to the reply, complementing this effort is PB-SHABD (Prasar Bharati – Shared Audio-Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination), which was rolled out in March 2024 to enable news dissemination in 15 Indian languages. These include Hindi, English, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and others, aimed at strengthening regional news access.

Originally introduced as a free service for one year, PB-SHABD’s free access has now been extended till March 2027, in a move likely to accelerate adoption among publishers and users.

Prasar Bharati has also begun unlocking its vast archival library on WAVES OTT, making legacy television shows, documentaries and programmes available in a phased manner. The initiative is aimed at improving content discoverability while deepening audience engagement on the platform.

Both WAVES OTT and PB-SHABD are designed to expand access to public service broadcasting content across geographies, including regions such as Surguja in Chhattisgarh, through digital distribution.