DTH
Dish TV wins IDC Insights Awards for ‘Excellence in Operations category’
MUMBAI: Dish TV India Limited, the world’s largest single-country DTH Company, has bagged the I.C.O.N.I.C IDC Insights Award 2018 for its pioneering initiative ‘Project Phoenix’– a common service CRM for both its brands i.e Dish TV and D2H under ‘Excellence in Operations category’ at the award ceremony held recently. The winners, after a rigorous evaluation process, were chosen based on the votes of the jury and final validation of the jury chair person.
Post the completion of merger, ‘Project Phoenix’ was launched to seamlessly integrate the user interface of the individual CRMs of both the brands i.e Dish TV and D2H. With this, the user interface became common and the CRMs of both the brands were working in their individual capacity since building a new common CRM platform was a time consuming task. The tool has highly intuitive user interface and has helped in simplifying the working of Service Coordinators.
Commenting on the award win, Mr V.K.Gupta, CTO, Dish TV India Ltd said, “We are very excited to be recognized for our focus on innovation, customer satisfaction and our commitment to achieving excellence through technology. As a leading DTH player, Dish TV always strive to create distinct operational and functional capabilities offering industry leading solutions to achieve maximum customer satisfaction.”
The prestigious IDC Insights awards honor the business and IT leaders who envisaged, conceptualized, and successfully executed an IT/Technology implementation that brought about tangible results for their organization. Dish TV was felicitated at a ceremony on 6-7th December 2018 at the Hyatt Regency, Chandigarh.
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.
