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Two channels acquire vacant MPEG-2 slots in 87th e-auction
The 87th online e-auction for vacant MPEG-2 slots on DD Free Dish took place on May 19, 2025.
Three new private South Indian channels—TV9 Telugu, Aastha Kannada, and Aastha Telugu—have been onboarded to DD Free Dish since April 1, 2025.
Prasar Bharati has released the list of channels that won vacant MPEG-2 slots for the period May 28, 2025 to March 31, 2026. According to the list, Bharat Express News (Hindi) and Pratham Khabar 24x7 News (Assamese) acquired the vacant slots.
The 87th e-auction of vacant MPEG-2 slots on the DD Free Dish platform took place on May 19, 2025. The public broadcaster had earlier extended the application deadline to May 18. The e-auction allocated slots on a pro-rata basis. The terms and conditions from its earlier notification dated April 29, 2025, were in effect for this mid-year auction.
The e-auction was conducted in accordance with the e-auction methodology 2025 for allotment of DD Free Dish slots to private channels, notified by Prasar Bharati on January 3, 2025. Only satellite channels were permitted and licensed by the Ministry of I&B were allowed to participate. International Pubic Broadcasters permitted and licensed by the Ministry were also eligible to participate.
According to its latest methodology, the pubcaster has categorised TV channels in different buckets listed below:
Bucket A+ for GEC (Hindi/Urdu) channels.
Bucket A for Movies (Hindi/Urdu) channels.
Bucket B for Music, Sports, Bhojpuri channels and remaining genres of Hindi and Urdu.
Bucket C for News and Current Affairs.
Bucket D for Devotional and all genres of Marathi and Punjabi channels, News and Current Affairs (English) channels and yet to be launched/re-launched channels in 8 languages as mentioned in schedule 8 of the constitution of India.
Bucket R for all channels of regional languages and channels in operation and available in the concerned language on the date of issue of notification for e-auction on at least one private DTH platform/ DD Free Dish or at least one registered MSO.
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