DTH
Aastha plans to launch in UK
MUMBAI: Aastha Broadcasting Network is planning to launch its international spiritual channel Aastha on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform in the UK market. This follows the channel launch in the US on the DirecTV platform a month back.
The company is in the process of applying for a license. “We have decided that UK will be our next stop. And we will be on the DTH system,” says Aastha Broadcasting Network director Hiren Doshi.
Aastha’s step into the global market is seen as a drive to generate pay revenues even as there is very little scope for spiritual channels to augment advertising revenues in the Indian market. In the US, the channel is priced at $14.99 a month per subscriber.
The international channel is a mix of content from its two Indian entities – Aastha and Aastha 2. While Aastha is a spiritual channel with focus on discourses and live Yoga demonstrations, Aastha 2 airs Bhajans and Kirtans. Currently, Aastha has its footprints available across 160 countries.
Meanwhile, CMM Broadcasting Network, a listed firm, has been rechristened as Aastha Broadcasting Network Ltd. CMM Music channel closed down operations in mid-2004, replacing it with Aastha 2.
“CMM Music was discontinued because we wanted to be only in the spirituality space. Our single spiritual channel (Aastha) wasn’t enough to telecast all our content. In CMM Music, we had a well-distributed frequency. So we decided to replace CMM Music with Aastha 2,” says Doshi.
Aastha broadcasts programming in Hindi, Gujarati and English. This year, the channel has plans to air locally originated programming as well.
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.
