DTH
Tata Sky partners Madhuri Dixit for interactive dance service
MUMBAI: After launching the Actve Fitness service in association with Suniel Shetty, direct to home (DTH) service provider Tata Sky has now partnered with Madhuri Dixit Nene and Dr. Shriram Nene’s RnM Moving Picture to launch a new interactive service ‘Dance Studio.’
The service will be powered by Dance with Madhuri (DWM) and will enable Tata Sky’s subscribers to learn various dance forms in the comfort of their homes.
Priced at Rs 59, this standalone service, which is not part of Tata Sky’s value added services (VAS) standard package, is expected to target viewers from all demography, across its 15 million customer base. Launching ad free on a subscription only basis, the service will be free for the first 10 days.
“Dance is universal and after going through a customer feedback survey and researching on consumer insights, we realised that dance cuts across all our target audience – kids, parents, grandparents. For that matter dance as a sector had a huge demand and was under-catered from an ‘at home service’ perspective. So we decided to go ahead with it. The idea was to provide our customers with a service that helps them learn quick steps from the best of dance teachers from all genres in the industry and Dance With Madhuri was an obvious choice,” said Tata Sky chief commercial officer Pallavi Puri.
Off late, the DTH player has launched a slew of interactive VAS services. When asked if video on demand (VOD) and VAS can become a sustainable revenue generating service for the company, Puri says, “For Tata Sky, both VOD and VAS services are two areas that we will be focusing on. These are services, which are distinct to Tata Sky. Our consumers know us for providing them with these unique services, so we will continue to expand them.”
The launch will be complemented with an engaging digital campaign #DanceForHappiness that the DTH player released through their social networking arms earlier this week, thereby going digital first for their marketing and promotions. Tata Sky ran a contest on its Twitter page and the winners were felicitated during the service’s launch. The launch also saw the release of a series of TVCs focused on Dance Studio, featuring Madhuri Dixit.
Explaining the theme behind the campaign, Tata Sky chief marketing officer Malay Dixit says, “Our research revealed that the expression of happiness across the country is instinctively through dance. That was the start of conceptualising the Dance For Happiness campaign, which later incorporated different factors that shape our reasons to learn dancing in the first place. This was the brief that we gave to Prime Focus – our creative partner for this campaign’s marketing and promotions.”
The DTH operator’s home channel is the principal point of communication and promotion for the new service.
Breaking down the different functions, the entire campaign is aimed to serve. “While the header for the campaign remains Dance For Happiness, we have broken it down into two sections. Since it’s a new product, some parts of the campaign will need to address what the product delivers and the other half will cater to its emotional relevance with consumers. So the campaign will be a mix of product explanation, price point address and the emotion behind dancing,” he explains.
While he asserts that having a celebrity onboard a campaign does amplify the reach, the core of any product offering is the concept, which needs to be solid. That being said, Madhuri Dixit being the face of DWM, and the brand’s overall reach made it easier to propagate the message to Tata Sky’s consumers, Dixit adds.
This association makes a big brand integration on part of RnM Moving Pictures, run by the husband – wife duo. When asked what that means for the start up, Dr Nene says, “Being a start up, the key was to figure out sustainability, and how we can make it palatable and affordable at the same time. This particular joint venture opportunity with Tata Sky takes DWM to 15 million households. Individuals can access world class dance lessons at just Rs 59. Therefore, one significant part of our scope is to go out and partner with different brands and services that fits well with what we want to achieve, and Tata Sky just fits the bill like a hand to a glove.”
He adds that Tata Sky also facilitates DWM to penetrate Tier II and III audience, a demographic which is harder to reach out for a digital start up like them. “The challenge has always been to reach out to the mass beyond the metros, and non uniform broadband coverage and internet availability has always hindered us in that respect. But with Tata Sky onboard, we can easily leap over this hurdle,” says an enthusiastic Nene.
Apart from their DTH partnership, RnM Moving Pictures is also looking to expand its services internationally, starting with the United States and gradually moving to Dubai and the UK.
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.
