DTH
Dish TV India concludes Grand Finale of M&E and Broadcasting industry’s first ever Hackathon
MUMBAI: Dish TV India Limited, world’s largest single-country DTH Company, held the 30-hour Grand Finale of India’s first and largest M&E and Broadcasting industry hackathon ‘Dish-a-thon’ on June 23-24 2018 at CoWrks, Gurugram. 30 plus teams competed in a thrilling battle of innovation, creativity and technical skills for over two days to resolve challenges and come up with constructive solutions to advance digital transformation for great customer experience. This also included a grueling round of live demo and Q&A session with judges from Dish TV India. Team Git Init from DTU claimed the top position with Teams Voicebox and Zodiac finishing as the first and second Runners up, respectively.
The winning teams created solutions like easy accessibility of DTH without using a remote, foolproof ready-to-use lead management system and AI enabled video commerce platform prototype. Dish-a-thon, powered by IncubateIND, was a unique hackathon aimed at inviting disruptive ideas covering path-breaking technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Big Data and witnessed spectacular participation of more than 1000 talented teams of young innovators, startups, students, developers, designers and data scientists across India.
Gracing the finale with his presence, Dish TV India, Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Anil Dua said, “We received overwhelming response from all over India and we are thrilled with the success of Dish-a-thon. The innovative solutions designed by the top teams are pointers to the direction that technological advancements in Media & Entertainment industry will take. We are excited with the grand finish to our industry-first initiative and will work on these innovative ideas to turn them into revolutionary real-world solutions for the benefit of customers and the industry, as a whole.”
Talking about the solutions created during Dish-a-thon, Dish TV India, Chief Technical Officer, Mr. V K Gupta said, “We are delighted to see participation from designers, developers, professionals, students and wizards from all over the country to create the future of M&E and Broadcasting industry. The teams used diverse themes in addition to their own disruptive ideas. These critical solutions based on absolute creativity will definitely have a wide impact on the entire industry and help us in further transforming and upgrading the television viewing experience for our customers.”
Delighted at the grand finale, Dish TV India, Corporate Head – Marketing, Mr. Sukhpreet Singh said, “As an industry-first initiative, Dish-a-thon accomplished wide scale and depth while encouraging the nation’s brightest minds to innovate and drive digital transformation in DTH industry. The grand finale, beaming with the enthusiasm of participants, was a fitting culmination to a successful competition sowing the seeds for future disruptions in the industry.”
Excited on the strong partnership with Dish TV India, Co-founder of IncubateIND, Samkit Sharma said, “We are proud to partner Dish TV, the pioneer in DTH industry in the inaugural year of Dish-a-thon. Dish TV has always been at the forefront of development with its path-breaking initiatives and the most receptive brand that has imbibed innovation in its culture. We are sure that some of the ideas that have come from this Dish-a-thon will be found useful by the leadership team of Dish TV.”
Dish-a-thon was open for individual team of developers and startups. Dish TV, along with IncubateIND, shortlisted more than 40 teams for the 30-hour open-format grand finale. During the grand finale, participants got an opportunity to interact with industry experts and work with mentors to co-create and co-develop. The winners were recognized through certifications and cash rewards and also stand a chance to start a strategic engagement with DishTV. Before this, the first grand finale took place in Bangalore on June 16 & 17, 2018 with Team CoDish from Hyderabad claiming the title. Please visit dish-a-thon for further details.
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.
