DTH
Dish TV appoints Ranveer Singh ahead of festive season
MUMBAI: DTH operator Dish TV has launched its new campaign with Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh as its ambassador. The campaign has been designed to showcase the brand in a completely new, bold avatar signalling a new phase in the brand’s life cycle.
Ranveer Singh is an accomplished and leading film actor who will lend weight with his edgy and youthful attitude to DishTV’s new brand campaign ‘Dish Nahi Dishkiyaon’.
The brand TVC featuring Ranveer Singh, shows him in different situations with DishTV playing on his mind. To break from the monotony, he presses an imaginary remote and breaks into a dance frenzy. The film concludes with him celebrating amongst people, dancing to the entertaining tunes of the all-new ‘Dishkiyaon’ DishTV. The product window talks of its upcoming SMRT Stick for streaming online videos, 5X HD Clarity and unlimited entertainment packs, suggesting how DishTV is adding fun and entertaining moments to the lives of its customers through innovative new products and services.
Dish TV India group CEO Anil Dua says, “This festive season, the brand will enter a new phase. With growth momentum on our side arising out of our existing initiatives and upcoming offerings, our new campaign will firmly position DishTV as the preferred entertainment brand in the country. In the same spirit, we are delighted to have Ranveer Singh as the face of the brand DishTV. Ranveer’s vivacious and energetic personality resonates well with our new brand positioning. We are glad to have him onboard and are confident that, his infectious energy will energise our audiences and invigorate our brand.”
Actor Ranveer Singh adds, “I’m extremely happy to be a part of DishTV, a pioneer brand that’s as passionate about entertainment as I am. My experience shooting for this campaign is pretty much summarised by their tagline – Dish Nahi Dishkiyaon Hai Ye – fun, cool and entertaining. I’m excited and looking forward to everyone watching the TVC.”
Dish TV corporate head marketing Sukhpreet Singh mentions, “Our new ad campaign is here to woo the younger generation with the choice of our new brand ambassador and quirky campaign tagline – ‘Dish Nahi Dishkiyaon’. As the tagline implies, DishTV is everything fun, cool and entertaining. With a slew of new products on the anvil coupled with irresistible packs and offers, our customers are sure to look at DishTV in a new light.”
This latest campaign which has been conceptualised by Enormous Brands, is soon going live and will be running on air across GEC, Movies and popular regional TV channels. It will be a 360-degree campaign that will also go live on all the key platforms – digital, print, radio, OOH and city activations this festive season. The campaign will also showcase a few of the innovative products & packages lined up for launch during the upcoming festive season and beyond.
DTH
DD Free Dish e-auction revenue dips to Rs 642 crore as slot sales fall
Revenue dips as revised norms reshape bidding in 94th round
NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati’s DD Free Dish has closed its 8th annual, and 94th overall, e-auction for MPEG-2 slots with total collections of Rs 642 crore for the period April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.
That is lower than last year’s Rs 780 crore haul, with 55 slots sold compared with 61 in FY25–26. The softer topline reflects both a slimmer inventory and a recalibrated auction framework.
This was the first auction conducted after amendments to the e-auction methodology, including tighter eligibility norms and a revised reserve price structure for MPEG-2 slots. The stated aim was greater transparency and more serious participation. The immediate outcome appears to be more measured bidding in certain categories.
Day one set the tone. Eight slots were sold, six in the premium Bucket A+ and two in Bucket A. The strong early action in A+, which typically houses Hindi GECs and movie channels, reaffirmed the enduring appeal of mass Hindi programming on the platform.
Among the broadcasters securing slots in the initial rounds were Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Sony Pictures Networks India, Viacom18’s Colors network, Sun Network and Shemaroo Entertainment. Their continued presence signals that, despite the pull of digital platforms, Free Dish remains a strategic must have for legacy networks chasing scale in price sensitive markets.
The final bouquet of 55 channels leans heavily towards Hindi news, movies, devotional fare, Bhojpuri and regional programming.
In Hindi news, familiar heavyweights such as Aaj Tak, ABP News, India TV, News18 India, Republic Bharat and Zee News made the cut. Entertainment and movie offerings include Colors Rishtey, Star Utsav, Dangal TV, Sony Pal, Shemaroo TV, Goldmines, B4U Movies and Zee Biskope. Devotional viewers will find Aastha, Sanskar and Sadhna Gold among the selected channels.
Regional representation includes Sun Marathi, Fakt Marathi, PTC Punjabi and GTC Punjabi.
Equally telling were the absences. Broadcasters such as Big Magic, Filamchi Bhojpuri, India News, Bharat Express, Movieplex Maithili, TV9 Marathi, Shemaroo Marathibana, Zee Chitra Mandir and Satsang did not participate. The pullback is particularly visible across Marathi, Bhojpuri, Maithili and spiritual programming. Industry observers point to the revised reserve prices, tighter eligibility norms and a reassessment of commercial viability as possible factors.
DD Free Dish continues to beam into over 40 million homes, largely in rural and semi urban India. For advertisers and broadcasters alike, it offers efficient access to Bharat markets where pay TV penetration remains uneven and OTT subscriptions are limited.
The moderation in revenue this year may be read as a pause rather than a retreat. Fewer slots, a reworked auction playbook and evolving broadcaster strategies have clearly shaped outcomes. Yet premium Hindi entertainment retains its pull, and the platform’s mass reach remains hard to ignore.
As the FY26–27 line-up settles in, the mix of winners and walkaways will define the private satellite channel landscape on DD Free Dish for the year ahead.
