News1 India, India News win MPEG-4 slots in DD Free Dish's 104th e-auction

Prasar Bharati's 104th e-auction for vacant MPEG-4 slots on DD Free Dish has resulted in two successful channel bids, with News1 India and India News securing slots for the period from November 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027.

The results indicate that the two successful channels in the auction are from the news genre. The outcome provides fresh access to DD Free Dish's distribution platform for the channels during the five-month period.

The auction was announced on October 19, with bidding tentatively scheduled to commence on October 28. It was intended to allocate vacant MPEG-4 slots on the free-to-air direct-to-home platform for the November 2026-March 2027 period.

The latest results come against the backdrop of Prasar Bharati's structured auction process for allocating channel capacity on DD Free Dish. The platform offers broadcasters access to a nationwide free-to-air distribution network, allowing them to reach television households without viewers having to pay a monthly subscription fee.

For the 104th auction, Prasar Bharati had divided eligible channels into five categories, comprising three regional-language buckets, a news and current affairs category, and a non-news and current affairs category. The regional-language categories covered Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Odia and other languages specified under the auction conditions.

Broadcasters participating in the auction were required to hold valid permissions from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). The application process also involved a non-refundable processing fee of ₹25,000 and a participation fee of ₹3 lakh.

The auction conditions stipulated that at least 75% of a channel's monthly telecast content should conform to its declared genre and audio language, while content matching the declared classification must account for at least 60% of the total monthly content. Prasar Bharati also prescribed compliance requirements to ensure channels adhere to their declared classifications during the allocation period.