Free Dish e-auction: 25 channels pick up slots in rounds 2 & 3

According to sources, the pubcaster has mopped up approximately Rs 409 crore in these two rounds; bidding for remaining rounds to continue on March 20

by Sonam Saini
Published: Mar 20, 2023 8:01 AM | 2 min read

Prasar Bharati continued the e-auction for vacant MPEG-2 slots on DD Free Dish on the weekend with 25 channels picking up slots in rounds 2 and 3.

The starting receive prices for each round were Rs 16 crore and Rs 13 crore, respectively.

While the buckets eligible for bidding in round 2 were A+, A, B, C, D and R1, round 3 saw bidding for buckets A, B, C, D and R1.

According to industry sources, the pubcaster has mopped up approximately Rs 409 crore in these two rounds.

The channels that secured slots in round 2 were Sony Wah (Rs 20.25 crore), Star Gold Thrill (Rs 17.85 crore), Colors Cineplex Bollywood (Rs 17.5 crore), Shemaroo Ashirwad (Rs 17 crore), Dangal 2 (Rs 16.8 crore), Shemaroo Umang (Rs 16.65 crore), Nazara (Rs 16.6 crore), Manoranjan Prime (Rs 16.7 crore), Goldmine Bollywood (Rs 16.7 crore), Ishara (Rs 16.75 crore), Goldmines (Rs 16.9 crore) and B4U Music (Rs 17.05 crore).

The channels that picked up slots in round 3 were Showbox (Rs 17.05 crore), Dil Se (Rs 17.05 crore), Filmachi (Rs 16.7 crore), Goldmines (Rs 15 crore), Aastha Channel (Rs 15.05 crore), Times Navbharat (Rs 15.15 crore), another slot by Goldmines (Rs 15.35 crore), B4U Bhojpuri (Rs 15.05 crore), Bhojpuri Cinema (Rs 15.1 crore), News Nation (Rs 15.05 crore), Aaj Tak (Rs 15.1 crore), 9XM (Rs 15.2 crore) and Movie Plus (Rs 15.2 crore).

In round 1, 33 channels bought slots for over Rs 538 crore.

The pubcaster has so far earned around Rs 947 crore from the e-auction. The remaining rounds (i.e. rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7) will go up for bidding on March 20.