Industry awaits clarity on capacity, slot disclosures and auction rules ahead of FY26 DD Free Dish bidding
Revenue of the company fell 26%
The pubcaster has already acquired additional spectrum and started the process of procuring the necessary equipment to operationalise it. These additional slots should be available in 4 to 6 months
The e-auction will be conducted as per e-auction methodology for allotment of DD Free Dish slots to private TV channels, notified by the pubcaster on Jan 27, 2023
The brand has come up with a new digital film for SOFIT Almond Drink
The e-auction, tentatively scheduled for August 28th, 2024, will offer MPEG-2 slots for the period from September 5th, 2024, to March 31st, 2025
Advertising revenue of the company increased to Rs 10 crore in Q1 FY25 from Rs 9 crore in Q1 FY24
Industry leaders express concerns over Broadcast Bill exempting DD FreeDish from the encryption mandate that can undermine efforts to combat piracy and maintain industry standards
In the Bill, government has proposed that every cable and satellite broadcasting network operator shall transmit or re-transmit programmes in an encrypted form through a digital addressable system
Hashtag Orange will be responsible for brand building and performance marketing for the OTT aggregator
The company said it is also considering incorporation of a wholly owned subsidiary in India which will infuse Rs 10 lakh towards the share capital
Broadcasters, e4m has learnt, have found the base price exorbitant
Only the satellite channels licensed by the Ministry of I&B would be allowed to participate in the e-auction
The slots are for the period between July 24, 2024 and March 31, 2025
TRAI, however, has jurisdiction in the case of tariff forbearance and permission to DPOs to form their own bouquets, said the experts
TRAI has highlighted that the broadcasters have been charging DPOs with subscription fees for pay channels, but are also paying DD Free Dish to carry the same channels
As per experts from the broadcast industry, the recommendation to encrypt DD Free Dish channels is “just to please DPOs” and is pointless until Prasar Bharati falls within TRAI’s ambit
The measure, said TRAI, will prevent unauthorised re-transmission of TV channels and combat piracy
TRAI also issued recommendations to MIB on certain issues like 'Listing of channels in Electronic Programme Guide' and the transition of 'DD Free Dish' to an addressable system
In its recommendations on National Broadcasting Policy, TRAI said that there's a lack of an effective mechanism to authenticate subscriber data numbers on the FreeDish
As part of its recommendations on the National Broadcasting Policy, TRAI has said there is a need to encourage single-window clearances to ensure ease of doing business and enhance investments
84% of the shareholders approved Manoj Dobhal as CEO who was appointed as the chief executive in May last year
Bidding in the auction of MPEG-4 was open to all genres and language channels at a reserve price of Rs 1.6 crore per annum
The MIB secy said in a meeting with the media that almost 25% of broadcasting is now happening through DD Free Dish
Broadcasters say the reserve prices in the 77th e-auction for MPEG-2 slots were 'too high'
The allotment of the vacant slots is for the period June 4, 2024 to March 31, 2025, for MPEG 4; for MPEG-2 the period is June 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025
Previously, she has worked with WhatsApp, Colgate Palmolive, India Today, and more
But there is hope for pay TV as India still has 125 million TV-dark homes, Sanjiv Shankar, Joint Secretary, Broadcast, MIB, told e4m
Dish TV CEO Manoj Dhobal and CMO Sukhpreet Singh spoke to e4m on the launch of Dish TV Smart+, the democratisation of content watching, the recent meeting with the TRAI chief and more
The service will offer built-in OTT services along with linear TV subscriptions to all its customers
India has nearly 320 million households, out of which over 100 million do not have access to television, according to TRAI
Cable TV operators are crying for help to survive the storm of OTT and hike in channel prices after the implementation of NTO 3.0
In an EGOM of shareholders, 80% of votes were cast against the appointments of Sunil Khanna, Bhushan Puri and Sonal Bankim Parekh as directors
'Own Your Customer’ (OYC) is a unique step to address LCO's concerns about their customer base shifting to DTH to avoid interruptions in TV viewing experience
The company will be seeking shareholders’ approval for appointment of Sunil Khanna as Independent Director, Ravi Bhushan Puri as Director, and Sonal Bankim Parekh as Independent Director
As per industry experts, the absence of the Big 4 broadcasters, the DTH platform's reach and the upcoming general elections spurred this aggressive bidding
Manoranjan Grand paid the highest price, Rs 21.25 crore, for a slot on the platform
Last year, the pubcaster had earned Rs 1073 crore from the e-auction of 65 MPEG-2 slots
The total number of slots sold in the last six days has reached 59 and the total revenue earned so far is Rs 1079 crore, crossing last year's revenue
Last year, the pubcaster earned a total of Rs 1,073 crore from the 65 slots on the DD FreeDish
Another channel, Dhamaal has also secured a slot for Rs 20.85 crore
Overall, Prasar Bharati has earned Rs 645 crore from 34 channels in the auction so far
Compared to last year’s Rs 100.35 crore, six news channels have secured slots for a total of Rs 112.25 crore; industry observers attribute the rise to the upcoming general elections
The slots were picked up by Zee News, NDTV, Aaj Tak, ABP News, News18 and R Bharat
The pubcaster sold 13 slots in the last two days of the FreeDish MPEG-2 auction
The slots were bought by nine channels
Both slots have been secured by Manoranjan TV Group for its general entertainment channels - Manoranjan Grand and Manoranjan TV
The e-auction will be tentatively held from February 19, 2024
Sanjay Khanna appointed non-executive independent director and Ravi Bhushan Puri the executive director
At the e4m MarTech India Conference 2023, Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra, spoke about technology enabling business for progressive India