DTH
Doordarshan Freedish earns Rs 23.2 crore from 6 channels in 21st e-auction
NEW DELHI: Doordarshan has earned Rs 23.2 crore from the 21st online e-auction of six slots to Indian television channels on its free-to-air DTH platform Freedish.
DD’s target is to touch 112 television channels on Freedish over the next few months.
Against a reserve price of Rs 3.7 crore per slot for the online e-auction, DD earned as much as Rs 4.1 crore from Colors Rishtey, whereas Star Utsav got its slot for Rs 3.9 crore.
Doordarshan sources told Indiantelevision.com that the other slots went to Zee Anmol, Zee Sangam, Housefull Movies and B4U Music for Rs 3.8 crore each.
However, as per information available with this website, the bid amount had gone up to Rs 4.2 crore in one of the earlier e-auctions.
DD sources also said that while Freedish may be encrypted to keep a tab on the number of subscribers, it would continue to remain free-to-air.
The e-Auction was conducted by C1 India Pvt. Ltd., Noida on behalf of Prasar Bharati, thus marking a change in the auctioneer.
The reserve price in the 15th e-auction was Rs 3 crore and was raised to Rs 3.7 crore in the 16th auction.
The six channels were part of Freedish but had to re-bid as their contract had expired. Consequently, Freedish retains 64 channels including DD’s channels and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV.
The participation amount (EMD) in the e-Auction was Rs 1.5 crore, which was deposited in advance along with a non-refundable processing fee of Rs 10,000 in favour of PB (BCI) Doordarshan Commercial Service, New Delhi.
Incremental amount for the auction was Rs 10 lakh and the time for every slot e-auction was of fifteen minutes duration.
Of the reserve price, Rs 1.1 crore will be deposited within one month of placement and another Rs 1.1 crore within two months along with service tax of 14 per cent on the bid amount.
The balance bid amount will be deposited within six months, failing which the reserve price will be forfeited.
Applicants had to provide details of the Uplink/Downlink permission documents received from the concerned Ministries with the applications to ensure they are not rejected.
DTH Operator
JC Flowers withdraws NCLT plea against Dish TV over EGM demand
Move eases pressure on DTH firm as long-running shareholder dispute cools
MUMBAI: In a breather for Dish TV India, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction has withdrawn its petition before the National Company Law Tribunal seeking directions to convene an extraordinary general meeting.
The development was disclosed by Dish TV in a regulatory filing, confirming that the petitioner chose to withdraw the case during a hearing at the Mumbai bench of the tribunal. A detailed order from the bench is still awaited.
The petition, originally filed under Sections 98 to 100 of the Companies Act, 2013, sought to push for an extraordinary general meeting to address governance issues at the company. The case had its roots in a prolonged shareholder tussle dating back to 2021, when Yes Bank, then the largest shareholder, was at odds with the promoter group led by Subhash Chandra over board reconstitution.
JC Flowers had stepped into the picture as an assignee of Yes Bank’s stressed assets, effectively continuing the legal push initiated earlier. The withdrawal now signals a pause, if not a closure, to that chapter of dispute.
While the reasons behind the withdrawal have not been formally detailed, the move reduces immediate legal pressure on Dish TV, which has been navigating both operational and regulatory challenges in recent years.
For now, the focus shifts back to the company’s business fundamentals, even as the legal dust settles, at least temporarily, on one of its more closely watched shareholder battles.
