DD Free Dish MPEG-2 e-auctions: Movies bucket sees highest bidding at Rs 13.45 cr on Day 2

The second day of the 8th annual DD Free Dish MPEG-2 e-auctions saw strong bidding across movie, regional, music and news categories, with the Movies bucket commanding premium pricing on the free-to-air platform.

In Bucket A (Hindi Movies), four channels secured slots in a tightly contested round. Star Utsav Movies emerged as the highest bidder at ₹13.45 crore, followed closely by Zee Action at ₹13.4 crore. Goldmines secured its slot at ₹13.35 crore, while Zee Anmol closed at ₹13.3 crore, reflecting a narrow price band and intense competition for movie inventory.

Bucket B witnessed bids ranging between ₹10.2 crore and ₹10.6 crore. Zee Bioscope led at ₹10.6 crore, followed by Bhojpuri Cinema at ₹10.5 crore. B4U Bhojpuri secured a slot at ₹10.2 crore, while Showbox, Unique TV and B4U Music each closed at ₹10.25 crore.

In Bucket C (Hindi News), bidding remained tightly aligned. NDTV, Aaj Bharat, Zee News and India TV each secured slots at ₹8.6 crore, while News Nation and ABP News closed slightly higher at ₹8.65 crore. In Bucket D, Russia Today secured a slot at ₹9.75 crore, and GTC Punjabi closed at ₹9.2 crore.

The opening day of the auctions had seen top broadcasters — JioStar, Zee, Sony and Sun Network — winning eight MPEG-2 slots across Buckets A+ and A. In Bucket A+ (Hindi/Urdu GEC; starting reserve price ₹15 crore), Sony PAL emerged as the highest bidder among Day 1 winners at ₹16.55 crore. Star Utsav followed at ₹16.25 crore, Shemaroo TV closed at ₹16.35 crore, while Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sun Neo each secured slots at ₹16.40 crore.

In Bucket A (Hindi/Urdu Movies; starting reserve ₹12 crore), Sony WAH won a slot at ₹13.95 crore, and Zee Anmol Cinema closed at ₹13.45 crore.

With 26 MPEG-2 slots allocated over the first two days, the auctions reflect strong demand in the GEC and movie genres, while news, regional and music categories remain competitively priced.