DTH
Oscar.com to unleash content ahead of the Academy awards
MUMBAI: With the prestigious Oscar Awards a few weeks away, Oscar.com, the official site for the 79th Academy Awards, will provide movie fans with a lot of video.
This includes behind-the-scenes content, a sneak peek into Oscar preparations, as well as online sweepstakes and interactive games. In india the oscars will air on Star movies on 26 February.
During Oscar Week, 19-24 February 2007 Oscar.com will feature behind-the-scenes video diaries from the host Ellen DeGeneres as she prepares to host the telecast.
Hosted by Allyson Waterman and Greg Vaughan (star of US broadcaster ABC’s General Hospital), Road to the Oscars will cover the events that take place during the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards, including footage from pre-Oscar events, interviews and post-show coverage. Road to the Oscars will feature four weekly shows and a daily show from 19 -26 February 2007.
New to Oscar.com this year is a Q&A section with the nominees in which they answer questions. Fans can get to know the stars better. Also new is the Thank You Cam, where fans can see the first exclusive comments from the winners as they leave the stage with their Oscar statuette.
Tom Julian, Oscar.coms official fashion trend analyst, will give fans a look into red carpet style with exclusive one-on-one visits with fashion designers. Julian will also take fans back in time with the Evolution of Style page.
In addition Oscar.com will launch two exclusive promotions, Find the 79s and Predict the Winners. A watch-and-win contest, viewers can tune in during the live show to look for hidden 79s placed throughout the telecast. At the end of the telecast, viewers may log on to Oscar.com and submit a list of where the symbols appeared for a chance to win great prizes. Predict the Winners offers fans a chance to test their skills on their Oscar predictions. On Oscar.com fans may follow along with printable ballots.
Users can also log on on 26 February 2007 to watch backstage interview footage with the winners of the 79th Academy Awards.
Furthermore Oscar.com also has interactive games, including Your Perfect Oscar Date. This allows players to determine which celebrities would make their perfect Oscar night date. Which Character Are You? aims to keep players guessing about which memorable movie character they are most similar to.
The challenge for the Academy though will be viewership. Apart from The Departed which made over $100 million the other four films nominated for best picture have not made much money at the box office. Their combined box office take is only slightly more than what last year’s nominees had made which was the lowest ever.
In fact Clint Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima a second world war film told from Japan’s perspective has made only a little over two million dollars. The Queen which stars Oscar favourite Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II made a modest $35 million. Babel made a little over $ 23 million.
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.
