Prasar Bharati extends deadline for 90th e-auction for DD Free Dish MPEG-2 slots
Broadcasters now have time till August 20 to apply; auction to be now held on August 22.
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Prasar Bharati has extended the deadline to apply for the 90th e-auction of MPEG-2 slots on DD Free Dish. Broadcasters can now submit their applications till August 20, 2025, 3:00 p.m., with the e-auction process tentatively scheduled for August 22, 2025.
The public broadcaster had earlier announced the auction on August 11, inviting applications for allotment of vacant MPEG-2 slots on the DD Free Dish platform for the period August 29, 2025, to March 31, 2026, on a pro-rata basis.
The online e-auction process was earlier scheduled to begin on August 20, 2025.
According to the notification, the auction will be conducted under the E-auction Methodology of DD Free Dish Slots for private TV channels, as specified on the Prasar Bharati website. Only satellite TV channels with valid permission from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), along with international public broadcasters permitted by the MIB, will be eligible to participate.
The slots are divided into multiple genre-language buckets, including:
Bucket A+: Hindi/Urdu GEC channels
Bucket A: Hindi/Urdu movie and music channels
Bucket B: Hindi/Urdu sports channels, Bhojpuri channels, and other Hindi/Urdu genres
Bucket C: Hindi/Urdu news and current affairs channels
Bucket D: Devotional/spiritual/Ayush channels, Marathi & Punjabi channels, English news, and certain regional channels
Bucket R: Other regional language channels listed in Schedule 8 of the Constitution (excluding Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Punjabi)
The reserve price ranges from ₹9.60 crore for Bucket A+ to ₹1.76 crore for Bucket R.
Broadcasters must ensure that at least 75% of monthly programming aligns with the declared genre and language, excluding advertisements. Violations will be reviewed by a Prasar Bharati committee, which may discontinue slots in case of non-compliance.
Applicants are required to submit documents online in PDF format, pay a non-refundable processing fee of ₹25,000, and deposit a participation fee of ₹1.5 crore via demand draft or electronic transfer. Other mandatory requirements include an integrity pact, authorization of an official representative, and specific undertakings.
