DTH
Reliance BIG TV joins hands with 50,000 Indian Post Offices for HD DTH set top boxes
MUMBAI: DTH player, Reliance Big TV, after announcing zero cost entertainment to 130 crores Indians, has partnered with 50,000 Indian Post Offices across Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim for consumers to do an initial booking by making a payment of Rs 500 through post offices.
The FREE HD HEVC Set-Top-Boxes, as promised by Reliance Big TV, can now be booked through India Post Offices all across India. This initiative will support digital India campaign by bringing urban & rural India on the same platform for entertainment and education with unified consumer offer.
Vijender Singh director Reliance Big TV says,“With its latest offering, Reliance Big TV has disrupted the digital entertainment space in India. Now, every Indian household can have our HD HEVC Set Top Boxes at their disposal. This will give an access to free and high-quality entertainment and even more, every aspiring student can enjoy complimentary access to educational content, with our HD HEVC Set Top Boxes, which can be booked listed Indian Post Offices”.
The company will be starting the installation soon and all pre-booked customers will get their set-top boxes installed in their houses before 30 July and delivery of set-top boxes will start from 15 of June. The bookings for the post office will be commencing from 20 June.
“With this tie-up, Reliance Big TV will have a wider reach since Indian Post Office has an incredible reach, which is unrivalled by any other logistics partner and the same would help the customers to book this incredible offer by paying Rs 500 at any of the post offices in the stipulated states” adds Singh.
Reliance Big TV is further extending its Pan-India network to fully support its customers and provide an enriching content spanning Entertainment, Movies, Sports, News, infotainment, Education, Kids content and more. Its latest, cutting-edge HD HEVC device is all set to offer superior digital quality viewing.
Furthermore, the HD HEVC Set-Top-Box by Reliance Big TV comes fully loaded with latest features, such as scheduled recording, USB port, HDMI port, recording & viewing channels simultaneously. The latest offer includes, a plethora of pay channels absolutely free for 1 year including HD channels and up to 500 FTA channels free of cost for 5 years.
The pre-booking of the latest offer by Reliance Big TV has already commenced from 1 March 2018. Users can avail the latest offer on Reliance Big TV website (www.reliancebigtv.com) with booking amount of Rs 500 at a post office. On the receipt of Set-top-Box and outdoor unit (ODU), buyers have to pay the balance amount of Rs 1500 and enjoy a plethora of pay channels absolutely free for 1 year including HD Channels and up to 500 FTA channels free of cost for 5 years.
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.
