Day 3 of DD FreeDish MPEG-2 TV slots e-auctions crosses Rs 400 cr

Prasar Bharti invited applications from private television broadcasters for the 75th online e-auction for the MPEG-2 TV slots of DD FreeDish. The e-auction was held on February 19, 2024. The e-auction is being held in several rounds, in which slots of a total of 96 TV channels will be filled.

As per industry sources, two channels secured the MPEG-2 TV slots on Day 1 of the e-auction for a combined value of over Rs 40 crore. As per industry sources, two channels secured the MPEG-2 TV slots on Day 1 of the e-auction for a combined value of over Rs 40 crore. Industry sources further stated that two days of the e-auctions fetched Prasar Bharti almost Rs 290 crore, in which 13 MPEG-2 TV slots were sold.

Day 3 saw e-auction for Bucket C, which includes News and Current Affairs (Hindi/ Udru) Channels. The starting reserve price for Bucket C channels is Rs 7 crore. According to industry sources, six slots were sold for a total of around Rs 115 crore. The slot winners are:

• Aaj Tak
• ABP News
• NDTV
• News18
• R Bharat
• Zee News

For Bucket A+, which includes GEC-Hindi/ Urdu channels, Rs 15 crore is the starting reserve price. For Bucket A, which has Movie-Hindi/ Urdu channels, Rs 12 crore is the starting reserve price; while Rs 10 crore is the starting reserve price for Bucket B, which has Music-Hindi/ Urdu channels, Sports-Hindi/ Urdu channels, all channels of Bhojpuri language, and all other remaining genres of Hindi/ Urdu.