Regional inclusion gets a boost on DD Free Dish

The government has said that it has taken various proactive measures to increase the representation of South Indian language channels on DD Free Dish. Some of these measures include reserving slots for South Indian language channels in the e-auctions of DD Free Dish platform (done in 2025) and simplifying eligibility norms to ensure greater participation from private broadcasters in the southern region.

According to a press release, the information was submitted by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, L. Murugan, in the Lok Sabha today.

“DD Free Dish is the free-to-air (FTA) Direct-To-Home (DTH) platform of Prasar Bharati. Its footprint spans the entire country, including remote, border, and otherwise inaccessible areas. Government flagship schemes and public awareness campaigns are disseminated through programs on various national & regional channels of Doordarshan on DD Free Dish.

It has experienced consistent growth in its reach over the past few years. As per industry estimates, DD Free Dish reaches approximately 49 million households nationwide as of 2024. The figure was 33 million in 2018, signifying the positive audience growth,” stated the release.

According to the release, the government has taken various proactive measures to increase the representation of South Indian language channels on DD Free Dish, including:

• For better regional representation, slots had been reserved for South Indian language channels in the e-auctions of DD Free Dish platform (done in 2025)
• Eligibility norms have been simplified to ensure greater participation from private broadcasters in the southern region
• Furthermore, dedicated slots were offered for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam channels in recent e-auctions.
• Three additional South Indian language private channels viz. TV9 Telugu, Aastha Kannada & Aastha Telugu, have been onboarded on DD Free Dish since 01.04.2025.

Doordarshan's own regional channels, such as DD Tamil, DD Saptagiri, DD Chandana, DD Yadagiri, and DD Malayalam have also been onboarded. The channels are being technologically upgraded and better promoted to enhance their visibility.

Apart from this, there are 27 educational channels on DD Free Dish, which are relaying programs in various South Indian languages.