India’s largest free-to-air (FTA) Direct-to-Home (DTH) platform, DD Free Dish, has allocated two more vacant MPEG-4 slots in its 89th online e-auction. TNP NEWS and Living India News have successfully acquired these slots, ensuring their availability on the public broadcaster’s platform for the period from July 11, 2025, to March 31, 2026.
The 89th online e-auction for vacant MPEG-4 slots was conducted by Prasar Bharati, the public service broadcaster, on July 2, 2025. This auction is part of Prasar Bharati’s ongoing efforts to enhance the content diversity and reach of DD Free Dish, which currently serves over 50 million households across India, particularly in remote and rural areas, providing them with free television access.
According to the official list released by Prasar Bharati, TNP NEWS and Living India News emerged as the successful bidders. The e-auction adhered to the “e-auction methodology 2025 for allotment of DD Free Dish slots to private TV channels,” a framework notified by Prasar Bharati on January 3, 2025.
Only satellite channels permitted and licensed by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) were eligible to participate in the e-auction. This includes both private broadcasters and international public broadcasters holding valid permissions from the MIB.
The e-auction categorized TV channels into different buckets based on their genres and languages. These categories included:
- R1, R2, R3: Various regional language genres.
- G1: News and current affairs TV channels.
- G2: All genres of non-news and current affairs TV channels.
The reserve prices for slots varied across these buckets, starting from ₹3.62 lakh for regional channels (R1, R3) and going up to ₹57.14 lakh for news channels (G1). Bid increments ranged from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh.
A significant emphasis was also placed on content integrity in the notification inviting applications for the e-auction. Broadcasters are now required to ensure that at least 75 percent of their monthly content aligns with the declared language and genre of their channel. Failure to comply with this new clause could lead to action, including the discontinuation of slot allotment.
This development follows the 88th online e-auction held in June 2025, where channels such as Dabangg, Sandesh News, Punjabi Hits, Argus, and Tabbar Hits secured vacant MPEG-4 slots for the period of June 13, 2025, to March 31, 2026.
The continued allocation of slots on DD Free Dish underscores its strategic importance for broadcasters seeking to boost their visibility and expand their reach across India’s vast free-to-air television market.
Key Highlights:
- TNP NEWS and Living India News have acquired two vacant MPEG-4 slots on DD Free Dish in the 89th online e-auction held on July 2, 2025.
- These channels will be available on the free-to-air DTH platform from July 11, 2025, to March 31, 2026.
- The e-auction, conducted by Prasar Bharati, followed the 2025 methodology and mandated that participating channels be licensed by the MIB.
- A new rule emphasizes content integrity, requiring 75% of monthly content to match the declared genre and language, with non-compliance potentially leading to slot discontinuation.