DTH
Tata Sky launches interactive educational service
MUMBAI: Education is the next happening thing in India. Tata Sky in partnership with Tata Elxsi and Tata ClassEdge plans launch an interactive educational service. As part of the deal, Tata Elxsi is supporting the development of content that is specially developed to suit modularised learning programs and made available via Tata Sky’s active plus portfolio of value added services. It will produce interactive educational content for science students from classes V to VIII with lessons mapped to their syllabus.
Tata Sky Classroom is an educational service launched by Tata Sky along with Tata ClassEdge. It aims at assisting tutoring young viewers in an engaging manner with animated video content providing a fundamental understanding of core concepts in Science and Maths subjects.
“Tata Sky Classroom will help children in understanding core concepts which are really the key building blocks for future learning as we see this as a clear need gap. The service is aligned with children’s school syllabus and covers over 500 topics, delivered in an interesting and interactive format. With the objective to provide the best-in-class educational experience for kids, Tata ClassEdge with their expertise in the field was the perfect fit. Some of the best schools in India are currently using multimedia solutions from Tata ClassEdge to augment classroom learning. We plan to now make these accessible to our subscribers at an affordable price,” said Tata Sky chief commercial officer Pallavi Puri.
This interactive service has been launched and is now available to all subscribers.
“We are excited to partner with Tata Sky and make available our innovative learning content to children in the comfort and convenience of their homes. Tata Sky Classroom will enable learning of the core concepts of Science & Maths in an engaging manner so that a child understands the fundamental principles and is able to access this anytime of the day. This partnership will further support our vision of educating 10 million students annually by 2025,” added Tata ClassEdge chief commercial officer Rajesh Khandagale.
“Interactive content is increasingly being leveraged to help create effective learning experiences for school children, enabling easier understanding, improved comprehension and knowledge retention. Tata Elxsi’s award-winning digital and interactive content creation capabilities, coupled with its deep expertise in broadcast technologies, enables operators and broadcasters expand their portfolio of value added services, develop new revenue streams and discover new audiences, through compelling and differentiated content,” said Tata Elxsi SVP marketing and strategy Nitin Pai.
DTH
DD Free Dish e-auction heats up with 26 MPEG-2 slots sold in two days
Hindi movies, GEC and news dominate; Star Utsav Movies tops Day 2 at Rs 213.45 crore
MUMBAI- The bidding war on DD Free Dish is turning into a blockbuster and the slots are selling faster than popcorn at interval. Prasar Bharati’s 8th annual MPEG-2 e-auction delivered another strong day on Tuesday, with 18 more channels securing spots across movies, regional music and news buckets, taking the two-day total to 26.
Day 2 belonged to the movies and news categories. In Bucket A (Hindi Movies), Star Utsav Movies led the pack at Rs 213.45 crore, pipped only narrowly by Zee Action at Rs 213.4 crore. Goldmines landed at Rs 13.35 crore and Zee Anmol at Rs 13.3 crore, showing razor-thin price bands and fierce competition. Bucket B saw Zee Bioscope top at Rs 10.6 crore, Bhojpuri Cinema Rs 10.5 crore, B4U Bhojpuri Rs 10.2 crore, while Showbox, Unique TV and B4U Music each closed at Rs 10.25 crore.
News channels in Bucket C stayed tightly bunched: NDTV, Aaj Bharat, Zee News and India TV all secured slots at Rs 8.6 crore, with News Nation and ABP News slightly higher at Rs 8.65 crore. Bucket D rounded out with Russia Today at Rs 9.75 crore and GTC Punjabi at Rs 7.92 crore.
Day 1 had already set a premium tone, with eight slots snapped up – six in Bucket A+ (Hindi/Urdu GEC, starting reserve Rs 15 crore) and two in Bucket A (Hindi/Urdu Movies, starting Rs 12 crore). Sony PAL topped Day 1 winners at Rs 16.55 crore, Star Utsav Rs 16.25 crore, Shemaroo TV Rs 16.35 crore, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sun Neo at Rs 16.40 crore each. Sony WAH took a Bucket A slot at Rs 13.95 crore and Zee Anmol Cinema at Rs 13.45 crore.
The surge reflects broadcasters’ hunger for DD Free Dish’s estimated 43–45 million rural and semi-urban households, where Hindi GEC and movies remain advertising goldmines.
The auction runs under the revised E-auction Methodology 2025 (amended 9 January 2026), with escalating reserves – Round 2 Bucket A+ at Rs 16 crore, Round 3 Bucket A at Rs 13 crore – and stricter eligibility to weed out speculative bids. Channels must be operational, available in the relevant language, and already carried on at least one private DTH, DD Free Dish or registered MSO.
With premium genres flying off the shelf, the coming rounds will test how deep pockets really are as reserves climb and tactical down-bidding gets harder. In India’s largest free-to-air universe, these auctions aren’t just about slots – they’re about who gets to stay on the screen that reaches deepest into the heartland.
