After information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Sushma Swaraj's announcement that private television channels will be allowed to uplink directly from India, all private channels have made a beeline to the I&B ministry for uplinking clearances.

The channels hope to get uplinked by August-end or September at the latest. Uplinking from the country would be routed through the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) which is the sole licencee for Intelsat.

Nandan Unnikrishnan who heads BiTV says: "We have submitted an application through the I&B ministry for a direct uplinking. The ministry has asked for some supplementarydocuments, as a part of the procedure and once these are furnished, the ministry will take care of all the necessary clearances including clearances with the Department of Telecommunications."

But despite the procedural hassles, private channel operators are excited about the programming possibilities. Unnikrishnan says: "This is an opportunity for us to go in for more live coverage which was not possible till now."

Earlier, the programmes had to be taped and sent to Singapore, Hong Kong or Bangkok for uplinking. Now the channels can cut down on the lead time. Eenadu television, Sun TV and Raj TV are among the players in the queue for the uplinking. Sun TV is looking for some difference in programming. Says program manager Hansraj Saxena: "Now we can have more of our own programming and guest shows and breakfast shows. So far, the uplinking from abroad had ruled out any live shows. But now we are confident of better programming." Raj TV's chief executive officer (CEO) M Rajendran is also very upbeat. "Allthe television channels have applied for the uplinking. We are expecting the proposals to be cleared by September and then we should be able to uplink directly."

So far, Eenadu Television has been the only channel to have direct uplinking for limited hours through the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. Now the company is gearing up for 24-hour programming and has joined the queue of channels at the ministry.