freedish
The slots have been allotted for a two-month period starting February 1, 2026
e4m Staff Jan 30, 2026 9:07 AM
NBDA has sought at least 14 MPEG-2 slots for the news genre, pointing out that only 12–13 such channels have typically been available on DD Free Dish in recent years
The broadcast body has expressed concern about lack of fair competition
e4m Staff Aug 29, 2025 9:00 AM
The e-auction will follow the E-auction Methodology 2025 for Allotment of DD Free Dish Slots to Private TV Channels, notified by Prasar Bharati on 3 January this year
e4m Staff Aug 20, 2025 9:17 AM
The allotment will be carried out through the 90th online e-auction process, tentatively scheduled to begin on 20 August 2025
e4m Staff Aug 11, 2025 7:40 PM
One of the areas open for feedback is the rationalisation of channel categorisation, including buckets, genres, and languages
e4m Staff Jul 25, 2025 8:07 PM
The auction is scheduled to tentatively begin on July 2, 2025, and the slots will be allotted for the period July 11, 2025 to March 31, 2026
e4m Staff Jun 24, 2025 4:09 PM
DD FreeDish expanded from just 33 channels in 2004 to 381 channels in FY 2024-25, according to the findings of the Statistical Handbook
While Zee acquired one slot for ₹18.60 crore and another for ₹17.25 crore, JioStar secured one slot at ₹18.25 crore
e4m Staff Feb 12, 2025 8:25 AM
Sources tell e4m that Prasar Bharati received applications from 106 channels across genres. Out of these, 44 were selected, with 40 agreeing to join the platform
Sonam Saini Sep 18, 2024 9:03 AM
The e-auction will be conducted as per e-auction methodology for allotment of DD Free Dish slots to private TV channels, notified by the pubcaster on Jan 27, 2023
e4m Staff Aug 29, 2024 3:14 PM
The e-auction, tentatively scheduled for August 28th, 2024, will offer MPEG-2 slots for the period from September 5th, 2024, to March 31st, 2025
e4m Staff Aug 16, 2024 8:25 AM
In the Bill, government has proposed that every cable and satellite broadcasting network operator shall transmit or re-transmit programmes in an encrypted form through a digital addressable system
Only the satellite channels licensed by the Ministry of I&B would be allowed to participate in the e-auction
e4m Staff Jul 17, 2024 12:21 PM
The slots are for the period between July 24, 2024 and March 31, 2025
e4m Staff Jul 15, 2024 12:26 PM
TRAI, however, has jurisdiction in the case of tariff forbearance and permission to DPOs to form their own bouquets, said the experts
Aditi Gupta Jul 12, 2024 8:49 AM
The measure, said TRAI, will prevent unauthorised re-transmission of TV channels and combat piracy
In its recommendations on National Broadcasting Policy, TRAI said that there's a lack of an effective mechanism to authenticate subscriber data numbers on the FreeDish
e4m Staff Jun 21, 2024 8:44 AM
As part of its recommendations on the National Broadcasting Policy, TRAI has said there is a need to encourage single-window clearances to ensure ease of doing business and enhance investments
e4m Staff Jun 21, 2024 8:31 AM
Bidding in the auction of MPEG-4 was open to all genres and language channels at a reserve price of Rs 1.6 crore per annum
e4m Staff Jun 10, 2024 2:31 PM
But there is hope for pay TV as India still has 125 million TV-dark homes, Sanjiv Shankar, Joint Secretary, Broadcast, MIB, told e4m
Aditi Gupta Apr 29, 2024 8:40 AM
Cable TV operators are crying for help to survive the storm of OTT and hike in channel prices after the implementation of NTO 3.0
Aditi Gupta Mar 29, 2024 8:49 AM
As per industry experts, the absence of the Big 4 broadcasters, the DTH platform's reach and the upcoming general elections spurred this aggressive bidding
Sonam Saini Feb 28, 2024 8:36 AM
Manoranjan Grand paid the highest price, Rs 21.25 crore, for a slot on the platform
Sonam Saini Feb 27, 2024 8:58 AM
Last year, the pubcaster had earned Rs 1073 crore from the e-auction of 65 MPEG-2 slots
Sonam Saini Feb 26, 2024 5:02 PM
The total number of slots sold in the last six days has reached 59 and the total revenue earned so far is Rs 1079 crore, crossing last year's revenue
Sonam Saini Feb 24, 2024 9:52 PM
Last year, the pubcaster earned a total of Rs 1,073 crore from the 65 slots on the DD FreeDish
Sonam Saini Feb 24, 2024 9:19 AM
Overall, Prasar Bharati has earned Rs 645 crore from 34 channels in the auction so far
Sonam Saini Feb 23, 2024 8:29 AM
The slots were picked up by Zee News, NDTV, Aaj Tak, ABP News, News18 and R Bharat
Sonam Saini Feb 21, 2024 4:43 PM
The pubcaster sold 13 slots in the last two days of the FreeDish MPEG-2 auction
Sonam Saini Feb 21, 2024 8:06 AM
Both slots have been secured by Manoranjan TV Group for its general entertainment channels - Manoranjan Grand and Manoranjan TV
Sonam Saini Feb 20, 2024 8:46 AM
The online e-auction process to be tentatively held on September 12, 2023
exchange4media Staff Sep 7, 2023 4:26 PM
According to reports, the number of homes using cable and DTH has dropped from 131 million in 2020 to 120 million in 2022 and is estimated to go further down to 116 million by 2025
Aditi Gupta Aug 7, 2023 8:08 AM
According to sources, two news channels also bid for the spot at Rs 15 crore
Sonam Saini Jul 4, 2023 3:40 PM
On the last day on Monday, seven slots were auctioned. The highest bid came from Bflix
exchange4media Staff Mar 20, 2023 6:43 PM
The first two slots under Bucket C, for news & current affairs (Hindi) channels, has been picked up for Rs 19.85 crore and Rs 16.55 crore say sources
Sonam Saini Mar 16, 2023 4:46 PM
Originally scheduled for March 13, the online auction is for vacant MPEG-2 slots of the DD Free Dish from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024
exchange4media Staff Mar 14, 2023 8:05 AM
Industry sources say Disney Star, ZEEL, Culver Max Entertainment and Viacom18 plan to bid for the DD FreeDish slots for their Hindi GECs like Star Utsav, Zee Anmol, Sony Pal and Colors Rishtey
Sonam Saini Jan 30, 2023 8:53 AM
The slots will be allotted for the period, April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024
exchange4media Staff Jan 19, 2023 12:30 PM
Experts feel launching the channel on the FTA platform may be a tactical move by the network to initiate a dialogue with advertisers
Sonam Saini Apr 29, 2022 9:06 AM
Sports18 Khel will be available on channel #25 on DD FreeDish from today
exchange4media Staff Apr 25, 2022 2:17 PM
The report also stated that the growth in Pay TV, Free TV & Connected TV shows that overall TV connections will keep growing at a pace of over 5% per year to cross 67% of Indian households by 2025
exchange4media Staff Mar 22, 2022 8:36 AM
The highest bid in the category for the MPEG-2 58th e-auctions was at Rs 6.90 crore
exchange4media Staff Mar 10, 2022 8:17 AM
Republic Bharat, ABP News, Zee News, News Nation and Times Now Navbharat are the channels that secured slot
exchange4media Staff Mar 9, 2022 7:17 PM
Experts say though the platform gives an exceptional reach to broadcasters, it is quite an expensive ride for newer channels because of the high bidding prices and the subsequent content cost
Sonam Saini Sep 2, 2021 8:34 AM
The Bhojpuri channel has lined up a slew of blockbuster films every Saturday at 6:30 pm starting 14 August
exchange4media Staff Aug 10, 2021 1:31 PM
Repeated complaints were made to MIB against nine private regional channels in the past that have been bypassing Free Dish regulations, creating discrepancies in the system
Tasmayee Laha Roy Mar 23, 2021 8:31 AM