BCS Stories
No show for DD FreeDish’s 77th e-auction for MPEG-2 slots
Prasar Bharati had invited applications DD Free Dish’s 77th e-auction for MPEG-2 slots for the period June 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.
Not a single broadcaster bid for the slot. They found the base price too steep and unreasonable.
Backgrounder
Notice for 77th e-auction of DD Free Dish MPEG-2 slots on January 27, 2023
Prasar Bharati invites applications for allotment of vacant MPEG-2 slots of DD Free Dish DTH Platform for the period from 01.06.2024 to 31.03.2025 through 77 online e-auction process to be tentatively held on 28 May 2024. The e-auction will be conducted by the E-auction Methodology for allotment of DD Free Dish slots to private TV channels, notified by Prasar Bharati on 27.01.2023 and subsequent Amendment Dated 13. 12.2023.
Period – 01.06.2024 to 31.03.2025
Slots- MPEG-2 Slot
Only satellite channels licensed by the Ministry of I&B would be allowed to participate in the e-auction. Only companies holding valid permission from the Ministry of I & B can apply for participation in the e-auction for the allocation of the DD Free Dish slot. International Public Broadcasters licensed by the Ministry of I & B can also participate in e-auction.
Categorization of TV channels in different buckets by genres and language of channel for the allotment period will be as below.
| S. No. | Bucket | Genre / Language |
| 1. | Bucket A+ | GEG (Hindi / Urdu) Channels |
| 2. | Bucket A | Movie (Hindi / Urdu) Channels |
|
3. |
Bucket B |
a. Music (Hindi / Urdu) Channels
b. Sports (Hindi / Urdu) Channels c. All Channels of Bhojpuri Language d. All other remaining Genre of Hindi / Urdu |
| 4. | Bucket C | News & Current Affairs (Hindi / Urdu) Channels |
|
5. |
Bucket D |
a. Devotional / Spiritual / Ayush
b. All Genres of Marathi & Punjabi Channels c. News & Current Affairs (English) Channels |
| 6. | Bucket Rl | This bucket is for all Channels
in languages* not covered above |
The Reserve Price for MPEG-2 slots for the commencement of e-auction for different Buckets shall be as under.
|
Round No. |
Starting
Reserve Price (in INR) |
Buckets Eligible to Bid | Buckets
Not Eligible to Bid |
| Round 1 (Bucket A+) | Rs. 17.69,87,000/- | A+,C,A,D,B,R1 | |
| Round 2 (Bucket C) | Rs.15,78,31,000/- | C,A,D,B,R1 | A+ |
| Round 3 (Bucket A) | Rs. 15,24, l7,000/- | A,D,B,R1 | A+,C |
| Round 4 (Bucket D) | Rs. 15,07,5l,000/- | D,B,R1 | A+,C,A |
| Round S (Bucket B) | Rs.14,99,18,000/- | B,RI | A+, C, A, D |
| Round 6 (Bucket Rl) | Rs.11,07,73,000/- | R1 | R.+, C, A, D, B |
BCS Bureau
