MPEG-4 slot e-auction of DD Free Dish earns Prasar Bharati Rs 9.82 crore

The 3rd Annual (53rd) e-auction of MPEG-4 slots of DD Free Dish was recently concluded and News channels dominated bagging as many as 10 out of the 11 slots. It may be recalled that News & Current Affairs Channels had put up a strong show at the 3rd Annual (52nd) e-auction of MPEG-2 slots of DD Free Dish held in February this year, with the highest bid price among all channel genres at Rs 22.05 crore.

At the MPEG-4 e-auctions, Sahara Samay (allotted the 1^st slot) and Jantantra (allotted the 11^th slot) had the highest bid price of Rs 1.12 crore each. Sudarshan News, which was allotted the 2^nd slot, had the second highest bid price of 1.06 crore.

In all, for the 11 MPEG-4 slots of DD Free Dish that were allotted, Prasar Bharati gained Rs 9.82 crore.

As per the policy guidelines, bidding in the e-auction of vacant unreserved MPEG-4 slots is open to all genre (language) Channels at a reserve price of Rs 50 lakh per annum. Channels are required to deposit a demand draft of Rs 10 lakh as participation fee for MPEG-4 slots e-auction.

For MPEG-4 slots, the lowest starting reserve price for the commencement of e-auction is Rs 5 lakh. Incremental amount in the auction bids of MPEG-4 slots shall be of a minimum of Rs 2 lakh and multiples thereof.