The upcoming annual DD Free Dish auction for the next fiscal, typically held in January-February, may bring good news for broadcasters looking to bid for a slot on the pubcaster’s free-to-air DTH platform. According to highly placed sources, Prasar Bharati is planning to "significantly increase" the number of slots on DD Free Dish. “The pubcaster has already acquired additional spectrum and has started the process of procuring the necessary equipment to operationalise it. In another 4 to 6 months, or at least by the time the next auction process begins, these additional slots will be available," said the source, on the condition of anonymity. The decision to expand slots comes on the heels of the high demand of DD Free Dish slots in previous auctions. In the annual e-auction of DD Free Dish MPEG-2 slots held in February 2024, 64 slots were sold, generating approximately Rs 1,157 crore. This was an 8% increase in revenue compared to last year’s Rs 1,071 crore.
The February 2024 e-auction also marked the second consecutive year of revenue growth for Prasar Bharati, following a substantial 66% increase in 2023 compared to the previous year. Throughout the year, DD Free Dish auctions unsold slots on a pro-rata basis, but unfortunately, these auctions haven't attracted many bidders this year. For example, no broadcasters participated in the 79th e-auction of MPEG-2 slots for DD Free Dish held recently, primarily due to high pricing. Prasar Bharati had invited applications for the allotment of vacant MPEG-2 slots for the period of July 24, 2024, to March 31, 2025, through the 79th online e-auction.
DD Free Dish slot categories are divided into various buckets, each with a different starting reserve price. Bucket A+ includes General Entertainment Channels (GEC) in Hindi, with a starting price of Rs 15 crore. Bucket A covers Hindi movie and teleshopping channels, starting at Rs 12 crore. Bucket B, priced at Rs 10 crore, includes Hindi music and sports channels, as well as all Bhojpuri language channels. Bucket C, reserved for Hindi news and current affairs channels, has a base price of Rs 7 crore. Bucket D, starting at Rs 6 crore, includes devotional, spiritual, and Ayush channels, along with Hindi channels from other genres and all Marathi, Punjabi, and Urdu channels. Lastly, Bucket R1, priced at Rs 3 crore, is designated for channels in languages not covered by other buckets. But will an increase in slots bring down prices? Perhaps yes. “The pubcaster has received feedback from broadcasters regarding their concerns about steep base prices and as a result the fierce competition. Prasar Bharati is aware of these issues and is looking at addressing them.
.jpg)
Implementing these changes requires a formal policy update, which they are currently working on. The revised policy should be in place before the end of the calendar year,” sources told exchange4media. The pubcaster is exploring ways to make it more inclusive and accessible to a wider range of channels, particularly those from underrepresented regions. While there is no clarity on whether this would mean bucket enhancement, sources said that the pubcaster realises there are a large number of regional channels which are not adequately represented on DD Free Dish.
“Prasar Bharati is devising a mechanism to encourage more channels to join Free Dish. Their policy teams are currently working on creating a policy environment that makes it worthwhile for these channels to participate on Free Dish,” the source added.
