DTH
DishTV looks forward to better Q4 2025
MUMBAI: The good news for DTH major Dish TV India is that it maintained its EBITDA margin at 32.9 per cent in Q3FY25. This despite, the drop in the topline, in EBITDA, subscription revenues, number of subscribers, and an increase in losses.
The other piece of good news is that the company is optimistic of things turning around the coming quarter thanks to finance minister lifting the taxable income levels for the general Indian public. .
Dish TV India CEO & executive director Manoj Dobhal said that Dish TV is venturing into B2B e-commerce through its newly incorporated subsidiary, Dish Bharat Ventures Pvt Ltd, established in October 2024.
“As an organisation, Dish TV India has come a long way and has, in this eventful journey, positively touched the lives of millions of stakeholders be it our ever valued past or present subscribers, shareholders, trade partners, suppliers or employees. We are indebted to all of them and would like to assure all our stakeholders that we would continue to do our best to make the business scale new heights all over again,” he said.” The company remains committed to a turnaround and believes that the convergence of digital content with linear television will help television maintain its mass appeal as it continues to provide value-for-money offerings to its subscribers.”
Preparing a content pipeline that adds a flavor of uniqueness and differentiates the OTT aggregation app of Dish TV India from similar products, the company conceived and launched the ‘Watcho Storytellers Conclave’ in Kolkata during the quarter. The trademark event aimed to foster creativity and innovation in content creation within the regional entertainment space while providing a platform for emerging storytellers to showcase their talent. More than three hundred established as well as budding content related professionals participated in the daylong event sharing their vision about the changing content ecosystem. More such ‘Watcho Storytellers Conclave’ are in the pipeline in the coming quarters and should give Dish TV India access to a unique and creative talent pool of content.
Doubling down on its content innovation strategy and to expand monetization opportunities, Dish TV India during the third quarter of the current fiscal partnered with C21 Media to launch Content India 2025. The collaboration is aimed at positioning India as a global leader in content creation.
The upcoming Content India 2025 would bring together industry leaders to discuss trends, challenges and opportunities in the media landscape helping support the growth of Indian content and its distribution across international platforms.
To combat pressure from online streaming platforms, Dish TV has also enhanced its offering by bundling complimentary access to six over-the-top (OTT) apps with DTH subscriptions. The company’s OTT aggregation app ‘Watcho’ has crossed 7.6 million paid subscriptions, with its premium plan ‘Watcho Max’ now featuring 18 popular OTT apps.
On the financial front, Dish reported a net loss of Rs 465 million for the quarter ended 31 December 2024, compared to a loss of Rs 28 million in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The direct-to-home operator’s operating revenues declined by 20.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3,730 million.
Subscription revenues saw a sharp decline of 33.5 per cent to Rs 2,472 million, while EBITDA fell by 31.9 per cent to Rs 1,227 million compared to the same quarter last year.
The company attributed the continued revenue pressure to increasing online content consumption and weak consumer discretionary spending, with cost-conscious viewers shifting towards the free DTH platform.
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.
