DTH
DD plans Rs 5-billion DTH foray
NEW DELHI: At a time when the world over KU-band direct-to-home (DTH) television service works better in a monopolistic situation or at best in a duopoly, India seems to be a country where more players are jumping into this arena. The latest to sing the DTH tune is none other than India’s pubcaster Prasar Bharati that today said it also plans to launch a DTH service.
“The board of Prasar Bharati has decided that Doordarshan too would a player in DTH and the Planning Commission has approved of the project and the funding needed for it,” India’s information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told journalists here today after inaugurating the Delhi marketing office of Prasar Bharati that manages DD and All India Radio.
However, indiantelevision.com learns from government sources that DD’s plans to launch a DTH service is more to do with reducing its costs on expansion of the terrestrial network. According to one estimate, the cost of expanding the terrestrial network of DD would be more than double of the investment that would be required on a DTH project as calculated by Prasar Bharati.
Though the minister also added that DD’s proposed DTH service would be in “free to air mode”, none of the Prasar Bharati officials could explain properly the rationale of spending about Rs 5 billion – the fund that has been approved, as per official confirmation – on a project like DTH and how it would operate in an FTA mode (whatever that means).
The minister added that the proposed DTH platform would have a mix of free to air and pay channels. How will that work? No clear answer was forthcoming.
Will DD’s grand DTH plans include other private satellite channels? Is there any time frame to the launch? Will Indians prefer a DTH platform put together by DD or a private operator like the Subhash Chandra promoted ASC Enterprise or the one being planned by Rupert Murdoch’s Star through Space TV? Would the DTH platform be in collaboration with telecom companies like Mahanagar telecom Nigam Ltd., Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. as envisaged earlier?
When questioned on these lines, Prasad said, “The Prasar Bharati board approved DD’s forays into DTH on 9 April only. Give the organization some time to finalise its plans.”
But, Prasar Bharati chief executive KS Sarma, on being cross-questioned by journalists on the FTA mode DTH and other aspects of it helpfully said, “We would put our case before the government (read apply for a DTH licence) by the end of this month.”
Asked what does DTH in a FTA mode means, Sarma only said, “The channels (on the proposed DTH platform) would not be encrypted and the subscriber would only have to buy the box.” But wouldn’t it defeat the whole purpose of a KU-band DTH?
Though Sarma also hinted that some informal talks have been initiated with private broadcasters to come on to the DTH platform, two of the biggest broadcasters operating in India told indiantelevision.com that they have not been approached by Prasar Bharati officially or unofficially for any DTH plans.
“Unless the plans are clear, no private channel would like to hop on to DD’s DTH platform,” a senior executive of a media organization that is planning forays into the DTH segment in India said today evening, sounding sceptical of Prasar Bharati’s abilities to carry out a massive project like DTH.
But Sarma was insistent that Prasar Bharati was best positioned to offer a DTH service. “With our vast infrastructure and engineering strength, nobody can offer a better (DTH) proposition to people than us,” he claimed.
PRASAR BHARTI TO TAKE CONTROL OF MARKETING ACTIVITIES
Dwelling on the aspect of marketing, Prasad said that this was the age when one has to effectively market one’s strengths and Prasar Bharati too, should do that.
The rationale behind establishing a marketing division of Prasar Bharati is to slowly stop outsourcing marketing to outside agencies, Sarma said, adding, that the marketing division in various cities (five have been opened and the sixth one is slated to come up in Calcutta) would sell airtime of AIR and DD together or individually as the case demanded.
DD’s director-general SY Quraishi added, “The endeavour is to se that DD does its own marketing and over a period of time we would take full control of the marketing activities.”
DTH
DD Free Dish e-auction heats up with 26 MPEG-2 slots sold in two days
Hindi movies, GEC and news dominate; Star Utsav Movies tops Day 2 at Rs 213.45 crore
MUMBAI- The bidding war on DD Free Dish is turning into a blockbuster and the slots are selling faster than popcorn at interval. Prasar Bharati’s 8th annual MPEG-2 e-auction delivered another strong day on Tuesday, with 18 more channels securing spots across movies, regional music and news buckets, taking the two-day total to 26.
Day 2 belonged to the movies and news categories. In Bucket A (Hindi Movies), Star Utsav Movies led the pack at Rs 213.45 crore, pipped only narrowly by Zee Action at Rs 213.4 crore. Goldmines landed at Rs 13.35 crore and Zee Anmol at Rs 13.3 crore, showing razor-thin price bands and fierce competition. Bucket B saw Zee Bioscope top at Rs 10.6 crore, Bhojpuri Cinema Rs 10.5 crore, B4U Bhojpuri Rs 10.2 crore, while Showbox, Unique TV and B4U Music each closed at Rs 10.25 crore.
News channels in Bucket C stayed tightly bunched: NDTV, Aaj Bharat, Zee News and India TV all secured slots at Rs 8.6 crore, with News Nation and ABP News slightly higher at Rs 8.65 crore. Bucket D rounded out with Russia Today at Rs 9.75 crore and GTC Punjabi at Rs 7.92 crore.
Day 1 had already set a premium tone, with eight slots snapped up – six in Bucket A+ (Hindi/Urdu GEC, starting reserve Rs 15 crore) and two in Bucket A (Hindi/Urdu Movies, starting Rs 12 crore). Sony PAL topped Day 1 winners at Rs 16.55 crore, Star Utsav Rs 16.25 crore, Shemaroo TV Rs 16.35 crore, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sun Neo at Rs 16.40 crore each. Sony WAH took a Bucket A slot at Rs 13.95 crore and Zee Anmol Cinema at Rs 13.45 crore.
The surge reflects broadcasters’ hunger for DD Free Dish’s estimated 43–45 million rural and semi-urban households, where Hindi GEC and movies remain advertising goldmines.
The auction runs under the revised E-auction Methodology 2025 (amended 9 January 2026), with escalating reserves – Round 2 Bucket A+ at Rs 16 crore, Round 3 Bucket A at Rs 13 crore – and stricter eligibility to weed out speculative bids. Channels must be operational, available in the relevant language, and already carried on at least one private DTH, DD Free Dish or registered MSO.
With premium genres flying off the shelf, the coming rounds will test how deep pockets really are as reserves climb and tactical down-bidding gets harder. In India’s largest free-to-air universe, these auctions aren’t just about slots – they’re about who gets to stay on the screen that reaches deepest into the heartland.
