DTH
DD FreeDish e-auction put off due to technical errors
MUMBAI: In probably what is a first, DD FreeDish’s e-auction was scrapped yesterday. The reason: technical glitches on the site of the auctioneer C1 India Pvt Ltd.
DD has made this announcement on its website admitting that, since bidders were experiencing problems, the bidding process was being put off until C1 India rectifies the errors.
DD FreeDish had announced 5 October as the 31st e-auction date last month. It had put the reserve price for the vacant slot at Rs 4.3 crore despite the bid amount touching Rs 5.2 crore in the previous 30th e-auction. It had also urged private channels whose agreement with the free DTH was expiring on 31 December 2016 needed to take part in the e-auction to continue to be distributed by it.
DD said it would keep bidders informed about the resumption date.
The free TV service is gearing up to expand its capacity to 104 channels and then to 250 by 2018. It has started rolling out MPEG4 boxes with iCAS, in place of the earlier MPEG2 ones.
DD FreeDish has come as a boon of sorts, helping India’s broadcasters to generate good revenues from old library and catalogue channels. Channels such as Zee Anmol, Sony Pal, Star Utsav – tenants of DD FreeDish — which show reruns of old TV shows and films have suddenly become the eye candy of the advertising community as they offer them reach in rural areas that channels distributed by cable TV and private DTH cannot.
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.
