DTH
DD’s DTH launch in limbo?
NEW DELHI: With a launch date still not fixed, a certain section in Doordarshan now thinks that starting a free Ku-band direct-to-home (DTH) TV service is a recipe for disaster and a sure shot way of attracting censure from the Comptroller and Auditor General. Especially since a business plan is not yet in place.
The voices of apprehension have been bolstered by the fact that DD’s efforts to get on its DTH platform some popular free to air entertainment channels haven’t borne much fruit thus far. The FTA channels that have agreed to join the platform include the likes of the Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU) two channels Eklavya TV and Vyasa TV and religious channels like Sadhna TV and DD’s own channels.
In a meeting late last week, the DTH issue was discussed by some top DD officials in the presence of director-general of DD, Naveen Kumar, where it was felt that the venture would fail to have the desired effect, especially when considering the money being poured in.
The Planning Commission, a government think tank on economic policies, had last year okayed Rs 5 billion for the DTH project. The sum was to be invested over a period of five years. The mega plans were announced last year by the then information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Subsequently the Cabinet had given its stamp of approval to DD’s expansion plans.
A source in Prasar Bharati, which manages DD and sibling All India Radio, admitted to indiantelevision.com that in the meeting held last week one particular deputy director-general even brought up the point of the absence of a business plan and the lack of commercial viability of the proposed venture even though the outflow would be
there.
For example, it has been pointed out, that DD would have to pay The Netherlands-based New Skies Satellites
approximately Rs 300 million for transponder space for the DTH venture. Since the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) does not have additional and adequate transponder capacity on its existing satellites, which are marketed under the brand name Insat, DD’s DTRH service was to be put on NSS-6.
Out of the total aid okayed by Planning Commission, DD has already invested approximately Rs 1.3 billion in
setting up an earth station in Delhi for the proposed DTH venture.
However, it is pertinent to mention here that there has been no official word from the information and broadcasting ministry on scrapping DD’s DTH project. The issue is likely to gain momentum after Parasr Bharati CEO KS Sarma returns from the US next week where he has reportedly gone to attend a global broadcasters meet.
The Prasar Bharati source also indicated that the programming staff of DD feel that programming, something that is an important aspect of a DTH venture, has been totally neglected in the run up to the launch of a KU-band service.
DD’s plans to launch a DTH service with a bouquet of 40-odd channels (out of which 20 were supposed to be DD’s own, with the rest being private ones) was born when some I&B ministry mandarin calculated that to expand DD’s coverage terrestrially (aim being to cover 100 per cent of the Indian population) would need a huge amount of investment. In comparison, it was tabulated that a KU-band DTH service would be cheaper.
The launch date has been postponed once before already.
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.
