Free Dish MPEG-2 slots: Prasar Bharati to conduct 59th e-auction on pro-rata basis
As per sources, Prasar Bharati has some unsold slots left from the recently held annual e-auction
Prasar Bharati is holding an e-auction for MPEG-2 slots on DD Free Dish on a pro-rata basis for a period of one year. The 59th e-auction will be tentatively held on March 22.
According to industry sources, Prasar Bharati has some unsold slots left from the recently held 58th annual e-auction. The reason for the availability of the slots is the exit of key Hindi GECs like Star Utsav, Zee Anmol, Sony Pal, and Colors Rishtey. Even Star Utsav Movies and Sony Wah are yet to put in their bids.
"Prasar Bharati invites applications for allotment of vacant MPEG-2 slots of DD Free Dish DTH Platform on pro rata basis for the period from 01.04.2022 to 31.03.2023 through 59th online e- auction process to be tentatively held on 22.03.2022," the public broadcaster has said in a public notice.
Bucket R1 for Devotional (Spiritual/AAYUSH Channels) will have the highest reserve price of Rs 20 crore followed by Bucket A+ for All GEC (Hindi) Channels at Rs 15.45 crore. While Bucket A for All Movie (Hindi) Channels will carry a reserve price of Rs 13.05 crore, Bucket B that is reserved for All Music (Hindi) Channels, Sports (Hindi) Channels, GEC (Bhojpuri), Movies (Bhojpuri) and Teleshopping (Hindi) channels will have a reserve price of Rs 11.10 crore.
Bucket C for News & Current Affairs (Hindi) Channels, News & Current Affairs (English) and News & Current Affairs (Punjabi) Channels has a reserve price of Rs 10.05 crore. The reserve price for Bucket D for All Other Remaining Genre (Language) Channels is Rs 7.05 crore.
Prasar Bharati has said that the e-auction will be held Bucket-wise, starting with the Bucket with the highest reserve price from Bucket R1, and will progressively go down in the order of reserve price, subject to availability of slots.
It has also stated that only satellite channels licensed by the I&B Ministry would be allowed to participate in the e-auction. Only companies holding valid permission from the ministry or their authorised distributor partners can apply for participation in e-auction for allocation of DD Free Dish slots.
In case the applicant company is other than the licensee, the document/agreement signed between licence holder company and applicant company authorizing the applicant/bidder for distribution of the channel and bidding on behalf of the licensee must be submitted, it added. International Public Broadcasters licensed by the I&B ministry can also participate in the e-auction.
Participants will have to pay a participation fee of Rs 1.50 crore through Demand Draft.
After the e-auction, Prasar Bharati will issue a Letter of Allotment to the successful bidder along with the payment schedule for payment of bid amount and prescribed format of agreement to be signed between Prasar Bharati and bidder.
Every successful bidder will be required to sign an agreement with Prasar Bharati in two original copies within 15 days of issue of Letter of Allotment. Successful bidders shall be required to make payments in 10 monthly instalments as per the payment schedule prescribed under clause (5) of the policy guidelines for allotment of DD Free Dish slots which will also be part of Letter of Allotment. Each instalment will be 1/10 of the difference of the bid amount and participation fee.
