DTH
Airtel reports growth for DTH, home broadband segment in Q4
KOLKATA: Airtel Digital TV, Bharti Airtel’s direct-to-home (DTH) segment has reported Rs 767.3 crore revenue in q4 FY21 compared to Rs 603.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, clocking a 27 per cent year-on-year growth.
The DTH segment has raked in Rs 248.3 crore profit in the quarter, up from Rs 152.8 crore in the same quarter a year ago. However, both profit and revenue have declined compared to the third quarter of FY21. The company deployed Rs 369 core capex for the quarter compared to 251.4 crore in Q4 FY20.
Airtel Digital TV witnessed a decline in customer base by 156 K during the quarter from 17.9 million in Q3 to 17.7 million in Q4, despite a growth of 6.6 per cent from 16.6 million in the corresponding quarter last year. ARPU for the quarter was at Rs 144 as compared, down from Rs 154 in the corresponding quarter last year.
Homes business segment witnessed revenue growth of five per cent year-on-year to reach 128.8 crore. The company’s focus on re-calibrated offerings and launch of Xstream bundles, with content and unlimited internet, to accelerate penetration has resulted in the highest ever net addition of 274K to reach a total base of 3.07 million, it stated. On a year-on-year basis, the customer base increased by 27 per cent.
For the quarter, revenues from Homes operations were Rs 600.9 core as compared to Rs 572.5crore in the corresponding quarter last year and Rs 567.4 in the previous quarter.
Overall, Airtel’s consolidated revenue stood at Rs 25,747 core, with India revenues at Rs 18,338 crore.
“It is this relentless focus on customer obsession that has allowed us to deliver another consistent quarter in terms of performance. Our mobile revenues grew at 19.1% YoY backed by 13.7 Mn 4G customer additions. We are seeing strong momentum in our home business with 274k net adds. The Enterprise segment delivered double-digit growth. Our digital assets continue to scale and we are beginning to see strong traction in monetisation of these assets,” said Airtel India and South Asia MD & CEO Gopal Vittal
DTH
Free Dish serves fresh slots as Prasar Bharati rings in e Auction 97
MPEG 4 slots for 2026–27 open with bids from March 16 and applications due March 9.
MUMBAI- When the Free Dish menu changes, broadcasters sharpen their forks. Prasar Bharati has formally opened applications for vacant MPEG-4 slots on its DD Free Dish direct to home platform, setting the stage for the 97th e-auction, scheduled to begin on March 16, 2026. The allotment will cover the broadcast period from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, continuing the public broadcaster’s annual auction cycle.
The notice, issued on February 9, 2026, lays out a familiar but finely sliced structure, with channels grouped into genre and language based “buckets”, each carrying its own reserve price and bidding dynamics. The aim is simple: widen content choice on DD Free Dish while keeping the playing field regulated and competitive.
At the premium end of the table, HD channels (Bucket H) will open with a reserve price of Rs 80 lakh, with bid increments of Rs 1 lakh.
Regional language channels are split across multiple rounds. Bucket R1, covering South Indian languages, and Bucket R2, which includes Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali, will both start at Rs 5 lakh in round one, moving up to Rs 15 lakh in the second round.
News and current affairs channels under Bucket G1 will begin at Rs 30 lakh, escalating to Rs 50 lakh in the next round, while the General Open round (GO) meant to mop up unfilled slots across categories carries a reserve price of Rs 70 lakh.
Eligibility remains tightly controlled. Participation is limited to satellite television channels licensed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with international public broadcasters holding valid MIB licences also allowed to bid. Prasar Bharati has also reiterated strict content compliance norms, making genre and language declarations more than just paperwork.
To qualify as “predominant”, at least 75 percent of non advertising content must align with the declared genre and language. In overall terms, this means such content cannot fall below 60 percent of a channel’s total monthly telecast. Complaints will trigger a review by a designated committee, and persistent violations could result in the channel being taken off the platform.
Applications must be submitted online via the Prasar Bharati portal by 9 March, 2026, at 15:00 hours. Broadcasters will need to pay a non refundable processing fee of Rs 25,000 and a participation fee of Rs 3 lakh, along with submitting mandatory documents such as MIB permissions, channel logos and proof of carriage on other DTH or MSO platforms.
Successful bidders will be required to stick to a strict payment calendar. Delays will attract interest at 14.5 percent per annum, and repeated defaults could lead to forfeiture of the participation fee and removal from DD Free Dish.
As India’s only free to air DTH platform with massive reach, DD Free Dish continues to be a crucial gateway, especially in regional markets. With e-Auction 97, Prasar Bharati is once again reshuffling the platter and the industry is watching closely to see who gets served next.
