DTH
WorldSpace kicks off satellite awards initiative
MUMBAI: WorldSpace Satellite Radio is looking to provide subscribers with a personalised listening experience throughout this month.
It kicked off ‘Honors Week’ with its own inaugural satellite radio awards show, Worldspace Honours, on 12 February 2007 live from Studio 2 at Abbey Road, the legendary recording studio of The Beatles.
WorldSpace Honours is the first satellite radio award show to recognise music and artistic contribution by artists from more than 20 musical genres represented on WorldSpace channels ranging from Up Country to Jhankaar and The System to Shruti. The honorees will be chosen by WorldSpace’s executive selection committee made up of programming staff from each of the 20 channels represented.
WorldSpace Satellite Radio VP global programming William Sabatini says, “WorldSpace Honours presents a completely new format for satellite music awards and was created to reflect the diversity of our music programming, the expertise of our staff, and the broad range of preferences of our subscribers. We are also thrilled to be announcing our choices for the WorldSpace Honours, live from the prestigious Abbey Road Studios.”
WorldSpace VP content marketing Ted Kelly, and WorldSpace india director of network programming Velu Shankar will host the awards show and will announce this year’s 23 honourees. Specialty programming is being created by the company to showcase each artist and will include interviews, career highlights, background information and their music.
Subscribers can listen throughout the day for all honourees and can tune in to their favorite WorldSpace Satellite Radio channel from 16-19 February 2007, when each honouree’s works will be showcased throughout the weekend.
“Honours Week” will also feature the second annual “UPop @ Abbey Road Sessions” which has officially kicked off with the Honours Award Show on 12 February 2007 and run through 15 February. The sessions feature four days of performances and recording sessions from some of yesterday’s and today’s stars, live from Abbey Road Studio 2. Additionally, WorldSpace will again host the global broadcast of Europe’s biggest music event—the Brit Awards—on Feb. 14. The live broadcast will feature backstage and red carpet interviews, celebrity appearances and performances by more than a dozen superstars.
Channels that will air music of the honourees include including Maestro, Riff, Potion, Radio Voyeger, Spin, Surabhi, Ghandharv, Jhankaar, Spandana and Moksha.
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.
