DTH
Isro sets 16 December as launch date for Insat 4A
MUMBAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has informed Tata-Sky Ltd, the 80:20 joint venture between the Tatas and Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star Group, that the launch of its much delayed Insat 4A satellite has been set for 16 December.
Tata-Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik confirmed to indiantelevision.com that Isro had intimated that Insat 4A, the first in a satellite series crucial to the future of Tata-Star’s T-Sky direct to home (DTH) venture, would be launched from Kourou, French Guayana, on 16 December. Tata-Sky has booked 11 Ku band transponders on Insat 4A.
This tallies with what Isro chairman M Madhavan Nair had told newspersons in Bangalore a few days ago – that Insat 4A had already been shifted to Kourou, from where it would be launched “probably in the middle of December”. Nair made his comments while inaugurating the Edusat class room in Bangalore.
The fixing of Insat 4A’s launch date also provides a window to when Tata-Sky’s DTH service T-Sky will likely become operational. According to information available with indiantelevision.com, after launch, a satellite takes anywhere between one to two months to settle into its geostationary orbital slot. What follows then is a month of signal testing after which the service can be offered to consumers. Going by this timeline, T-Sky should become operational anytime between March and June 2006.
When queried about this, Kaushik offered no comments except to state that T-Sky would make a public statement about the launch of its service at the appropriate time.
The launch of the Insat series – 4A, 4B and 4C – over the next year or so will add 36 Ku-band transponders to Isro’s capacity. This is expected to sizably increase the number of transponders for the various DTH operators.
Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Direct, meanwhile, has booked four-six transponders in the initial phase on 4B or 4C.
DTH providers can beam a maximum of 12 channels per transponder, depending on their compression technology. The availability of transponder space would limit the channel offerings from the DTH service providers. Insat 4A and 4B have a capacity of 12 Ku band and 12 C-band transponders each. Insat 4C, on the other hand, has just 12 Ku band transponders.
Dish TV and Doordarshan’s DD Direct use the NSS 6 satellite for their DTH services.
DTH
Free Dish serves fresh slots as Prasar Bharati rings in e Auction 97
MPEG 4 slots for 2026–27 open with bids from March 16 and applications due March 9.
MUMBAI- When the Free Dish menu changes, broadcasters sharpen their forks. Prasar Bharati has formally opened applications for vacant MPEG-4 slots on its DD Free Dish direct to home platform, setting the stage for the 97th e-auction, scheduled to begin on March 16, 2026. The allotment will cover the broadcast period from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, continuing the public broadcaster’s annual auction cycle.
The notice, issued on February 9, 2026, lays out a familiar but finely sliced structure, with channels grouped into genre and language based “buckets”, each carrying its own reserve price and bidding dynamics. The aim is simple: widen content choice on DD Free Dish while keeping the playing field regulated and competitive.
At the premium end of the table, HD channels (Bucket H) will open with a reserve price of Rs 80 lakh, with bid increments of Rs 1 lakh.
Regional language channels are split across multiple rounds. Bucket R1, covering South Indian languages, and Bucket R2, which includes Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali, will both start at Rs 5 lakh in round one, moving up to Rs 15 lakh in the second round.
News and current affairs channels under Bucket G1 will begin at Rs 30 lakh, escalating to Rs 50 lakh in the next round, while the General Open round (GO) meant to mop up unfilled slots across categories carries a reserve price of Rs 70 lakh.
Eligibility remains tightly controlled. Participation is limited to satellite television channels licensed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with international public broadcasters holding valid MIB licences also allowed to bid. Prasar Bharati has also reiterated strict content compliance norms, making genre and language declarations more than just paperwork.
To qualify as “predominant”, at least 75 percent of non advertising content must align with the declared genre and language. In overall terms, this means such content cannot fall below 60 percent of a channel’s total monthly telecast. Complaints will trigger a review by a designated committee, and persistent violations could result in the channel being taken off the platform.
Applications must be submitted online via the Prasar Bharati portal by 9 March, 2026, at 15:00 hours. Broadcasters will need to pay a non refundable processing fee of Rs 25,000 and a participation fee of Rs 3 lakh, along with submitting mandatory documents such as MIB permissions, channel logos and proof of carriage on other DTH or MSO platforms.
Successful bidders will be required to stick to a strict payment calendar. Delays will attract interest at 14.5 percent per annum, and repeated defaults could lead to forfeiture of the participation fee and removal from DD Free Dish.
As India’s only free to air DTH platform with massive reach, DD Free Dish continues to be a crucial gateway, especially in regional markets. With e-Auction 97, Prasar Bharati is once again reshuffling the platter and the industry is watching closely to see who gets served next.
