DTH
Tata Sky rebrands to Tata Play to reflect its expanded business interests
Mumbai: DTH and pay TV platform Tata Sky has announced a new name and identity – Tata Play as it expands its business interests beyond direct-to-home services.
The company’s services include a 100 per cent fiber network that has been renamed to Tata Play Fiber. Its aggregator app Tata Play Binge offers content from 13 OTT platforms through various bundled offerings. The company announced that it has also onboarded Netflix as one of the OTT platforms on the Tata Play Binge service.
To enhance its customer experience, Tata Play said it will now offer free service visits for customers and de-active DTH customers can continue to recharge and get restarted on the platform with no reconnection charges.
The new identity has been created by venturethree, London and the campaign has been designed by Ogilvy India. According to the statement, the new brand identity will be promoted heavily across all touchpoints starting 26 January and through the coming months. Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan have been engaged to promote Tata Play in national markets and R Madhavan and Priyamani will be the face of the campaign for the South markets. Both ‘Tata’ and ‘Tata Play’ are trademarks of Tata Sons.
“Tata Sky leveraged its market leadership in its core business to create an ecosystem of content delivery by foraying into OTT and broadband. We believe it is time for a brand identity that resonates beyond our DTH business,” said Tata Play MD and CEO Harit Nagpal. “I firmly believe that it’s one thing to own content, quite another to make it accessible. Distribution is what makes content easily discoverable for the masses, consumed, and talked about. Our DTH business has a sizeable market share and we’ll continue our endeavour to expand the TV viewing universe. The name Tata Play thus signifies our expanded range of product and services. The new identity is an outcome of our desire to be future-ready while making tomorrow better than today for homes and families.”
Tata Play chief communications officer Anurag Kumar said, the Tata Play brand mark and play mark takes inspiration from the ‘Tata’ mark – borrowing and reinforcing the trust, quality and recognition of India’s most valuable brand. “The word ‘Play’ adds youthfulness, ease and simplicity to an already trusted brand. The brand colours pink and purple along with dark blue and white are vibrant, youthful and add distinctiveness to the overall identity. With Tata Play, we promise you Fun, personalisation, flexibility, freedom, quality, innovation and connection. With Tata Play, you play better. And entertainment becomes aur bhi Jingalala,” he added.
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.
