DTH
Now, BPCL wants to come direct to home
NEW DELHI: Petroleum major Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) plans to foray into providing direct-to-home (DTH) TV, or content delivery to subscriber’s home using satellite, reports Press Trust of India.
India’s third largest oil firm plans to use its 1800 LPG distributors, covering about 20 million consumers, for marketing of DTH and is targeting 30 per cent of the over eight million DTH consumers expected by 2010, the news report quoted a BPCL official as saying.
To provide digital content distribution service to subscribers at a very affordable price, BPCL may form a joint venture with a partner dealing either in cost intensive areas like content, transponder space and STB or a financer.
BPCL has acquired in-house expertise in satellite up linking and optimization of precious space segment in satellite. It has acquired experience in hub implementation at integrated data center at Greater Noida for connecting 300 offices and 3,000 users all over the country, the PTI report stated.
With revenue sharing between cable operators and broadcasters at 83 per cent and 17 per cent, BPCL hopes to rope in broadcasting community as there is a huge revenue loss to them.
Distribution of content being major bottleneck for the broadcaster, any organization which has the capability of doing it effectively and also managing the customer segment – customer acquisition, equipment logistics, first-level call handling and monthly collection of subscription – can play a major role in filling the gap.
“BPCL’s advantage of being a ‘neutral service provider’ will encourage content players to willingly share their contents with BPCL at market determined prices,” PTI quotes a company proposal, which envisages taking on a joint venture partner.
At the moment, while there are two DTH players — Dish TV and Doordarshan Direct+ — in the country, BPCL will be the sixth player to enter the arena. The other three DTH services are being planned by a Tata-Star joint venture, Sun TV and the Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Skymagic.
Incidentally, News Corp has objected to Ambani using the `Sky’ brand name.
If all the players actually get their services on air, India would be the only country in the world that would have bucked the global DTH trend of having one or two players per country.
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.
