DTH
DishTV launches ‘Aapla Manoranjan’ for marathi Viewers
MUMBAI: Dish TV, Asia’s largest DTH brand, has partnered with Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd., one of India’s leading filmed entertainment content house to launch Marathi regional value added services for its valued Marathi audience. A 24-hour Marathi service ‘Aapla Manoranjan’ is now available at Channel number 1232 on DishTV platform. With the launch of this new service, customers can now enjoy the complete Ad-Free and 24X7 Marathi Service packed with Movies, Plays and Songs.
‘Aapla Manoranjan’, DishTV’s new regional offering is now available to the subscriber on free preview of 15 days. The viewers can continue to enjoy amazing Marathi content with a nominal subscription price of Rs 38 + GST.
The full entertainment package includes Marathi Songs, legendry Plays and two Marathi movies every day. In addition to this, every Sunday there will be a world satellite TV premiere of a newly released movie which hasn’t been telecasted on any satellite channel like Bus Top, Paisa Paisa & Suagr, Salt aani Prem on this service.
Speaking on the initiative DishTV, Senior vice president-Marketing, Mr. Sukhpreet Singh said: “We’re committed to provide the best of entertainment to our viewers across all regions. With an overall bouquet of 600+channels & services and with this new regional service offering, we’re excited to bring the best content and excellent TV viewing experience to our Marathi audience. The addition of ‘Aapla Manoranjan’ will cater to the needs of our Marathi subscribers across India for complete entertainment in their preferred language.”
Shemaroo Entertainment Limited – Director, Hiren Gada said, “We are pleased to associate with Dishtv and bring to the viewers Aapla Manorjan, a premium marathi content service that will air the finest of marathi films, songs and even theatre. It will be fueled by Shemaroo’s rich and exhaustive library of content and programming prowess. Marathi cinema with its thematic diversity, technical excellence and high production values has made a mark for itself in the industry and amongst cinema lovers. We are sure that this new offering will thoroughly be enjoyed by the viewers of Dishtv”.
DTH
DD Free Dish e-auction heats up with 26 MPEG-2 slots sold in two days
Hindi movies, GEC and news dominate; Star Utsav Movies tops Day 2 at Rs 213.45 crore
MUMBAI- The bidding war on DD Free Dish is turning into a blockbuster and the slots are selling faster than popcorn at interval. Prasar Bharati’s 8th annual MPEG-2 e-auction delivered another strong day on Tuesday, with 18 more channels securing spots across movies, regional music and news buckets, taking the two-day total to 26.
Day 2 belonged to the movies and news categories. In Bucket A (Hindi Movies), Star Utsav Movies led the pack at Rs 213.45 crore, pipped only narrowly by Zee Action at Rs 213.4 crore. Goldmines landed at Rs 13.35 crore and Zee Anmol at Rs 13.3 crore, showing razor-thin price bands and fierce competition. Bucket B saw Zee Bioscope top at Rs 10.6 crore, Bhojpuri Cinema Rs 10.5 crore, B4U Bhojpuri Rs 10.2 crore, while Showbox, Unique TV and B4U Music each closed at Rs 10.25 crore.
News channels in Bucket C stayed tightly bunched: NDTV, Aaj Bharat, Zee News and India TV all secured slots at Rs 8.6 crore, with News Nation and ABP News slightly higher at Rs 8.65 crore. Bucket D rounded out with Russia Today at Rs 9.75 crore and GTC Punjabi at Rs 7.92 crore.
Day 1 had already set a premium tone, with eight slots snapped up – six in Bucket A+ (Hindi/Urdu GEC, starting reserve Rs 15 crore) and two in Bucket A (Hindi/Urdu Movies, starting Rs 12 crore). Sony PAL topped Day 1 winners at Rs 16.55 crore, Star Utsav Rs 16.25 crore, Shemaroo TV Rs 16.35 crore, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sun Neo at Rs 16.40 crore each. Sony WAH took a Bucket A slot at Rs 13.95 crore and Zee Anmol Cinema at Rs 13.45 crore.
The surge reflects broadcasters’ hunger for DD Free Dish’s estimated 43–45 million rural and semi-urban households, where Hindi GEC and movies remain advertising goldmines.
The auction runs under the revised E-auction Methodology 2025 (amended 9 January 2026), with escalating reserves – Round 2 Bucket A+ at Rs 16 crore, Round 3 Bucket A at Rs 13 crore – and stricter eligibility to weed out speculative bids. Channels must be operational, available in the relevant language, and already carried on at least one private DTH, DD Free Dish or registered MSO.
With premium genres flying off the shelf, the coming rounds will test how deep pockets really are as reserves climb and tactical down-bidding gets harder. In India’s largest free-to-air universe, these auctions aren’t just about slots – they’re about who gets to stay on the screen that reaches deepest into the heartland.
