Private Broadcasters Avoid DD FreeDish Auction Amid Fee Hike

[AsitPaul]

New Delhi: State broadcaster Doordarshan’s free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) platform DD Free Dish failed to receive any applications for a planned auction to award channel slots to private broadcasters, a few weeks after it raised the reserve prices for its platform.
The auction was scheduled to take place on 11 April but the broadcaster didn’t receive any applications for participation, following which the auction was cancelled, said two people familiar with the development, who did not want to be named.
In March, DD Free Dish nearly doubled its reserve prices for non-news channels to Rs8 crore, up from Rs4.8 crore.
“The auction couldn’t take place. It is a matter of concern for the broadcaster. Doordarshan is evaluating the possible reasons behind failure to attract applications,” said one of the two people cited above. In DD Free Dish e-auction, private broadcasters bid for slots on the DTH platform for their television channels.
DD Free Dish has 22 million subscribers, according to recent estimates from television viewership measurement agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India.
The platform currently has a capacity of 104 channels and carries private entertainment channels, including Star Utsav, Sony Pal, Zee Anmol, Viacom18’s Rishtey and Rishtey Cineplex, as well as news channels, including Aaj Tak, ABP News and News 24.
In the last auction, the broadcaster generated Rs65.5 crore by selling 10 slots and the highest bid went up to Rs7.5 crore. For the year 2016-17, DD Free Dish recorded a revenue of Rs264.17 crore in 2016-17, a 47% increase from a year ago.
Also read: Doordarshan’s revenue rises to Rs827.51 crore in FY17
“The cost this time was too high, even for the bigger broadcasters. The idea behind DD Free Dish is to provide free-to-air signals to rural audiences. Fixing unreasonable base prices is not the mandate of the public broadcaster,” said an executive at a leading broadcaster, one of the two people cited earlier.
The executive further explained that both Doordarshan and private broadcasters stand to lose. “We won’t be able to reach the rural audiences who can’t afford pay television and Doordarshan won’t be able to earn good revenue,” the official added.

 

[Prashant Shridhar]

yes,8crore is too much....

btw welcome back Asitpaul ji on dd fd section...

 

[hike]

Oh!that's so sad. Plz share the Link bro.

 

[AsitPaul]

@hike bro
Can't post link as my ad blocker is on.
So copy pasted all.
It's published online on LiveMint.com

@Prashant bro
I am always active on DDF DDFD section.

 

[Bapun]

Better to share the link alone if you can't share the link while copying the whole article - to avoid copyright issues.

 

[JitendraKumar]

Here is the link
Private broadcasters avoid DD Free Dish auction amid fee hike - Livemint

 

[Prashant Shridhar]

MUMBAI: Broadcasters have given a
cold shoulder to public broadcaster
Doordarshan’s 32nd e-auction of
vacant slots on its free direct-to-
home (DTH) platform Freedish due to
the increase in reserve price to Rs 8
crore.
Riding high on the popularity of
Freedish, Doordarshan was looking
to squeeze out more carriage fee
from the entertainment broadcasters
from its 32nd e-auction. DD had
hiked the reserve price of vacant
non-news slots to Rs 8 crore from
Rs 4.8 crore.
A DD official said that broadcasters
had stayed away from the auction
due to the high reserve price. “No
one participated in the 32nd e-
auction,” the official stated.
DD Freedish had also for the first
time invited only non-news channels
to bid for vacant slots. Earlier, the
news and non-news channels were
allowed to participate in slot
auctions. The reserve price was also
the same.
With broadcasters in no mood to
shell out more for getting a slot on
Freedish, DD has gone back to the
drawing board. The pubcaster will
have to decrease its reserve fee as
the highest amount paid by a
broadcaster to get on Freedish is Rs
7.6 crore by Hindi GEC Sony Pal.
In January 2016, Sony Pal had
renewed its slot for Rs 7.6 crore.
However, in the e-auction held in
February, the channel had renewed
its slot for a reduced price of Rs 7.3
crore. In FY17, DD had earned an
average of Rs 5.1 crore from the
sale of 54 slots. Its total earnings
stood at Rs 275.4 crore.
“The Prasar Bharati board is seized
of the matter. I am sure a clear path
will emerge quickly,” DD DG Supriya
Sahu said without elaborating much.
However, a senior distribution
executive from a leading TV network
said, on the condition of anonymity,
that the reserve price hike was too
steep. “The reserve price of Rs 8
crore is too high even for a Freedish
because big broadcasters don’t pay
carriage to pay DTH platforms while
smaller broadcasters pay anywhere
between Rs 3–4 crore,” the
executive stated.
The spectacular rise of the Freedish
platform is giving sleepless nights to
pay DTH platforms. Tata Sky CFO G
Sambasivan had stated that Freedish
had added 10 million subscribers in
a span of one year. All private DTH
operators had not managed to add
these many subscribers in a year, he
stated.
The reporting of rural data by BARC
India and the competition among
private broadcasters to cater to this
burgeoning market has made
Freedish a very critical platform, with
its 22 million customers most in
rural areas of Hindi-speaking markets
(HSM).
Broadcasters are also making an all-
out effort to grab rural TV share by
offering fresh content on their FTA
channels within days of its airing on
pay channels. However, ZEEL is not
following this strategy as it feels that
the FTA channels might hurt the pay
revenues of broadcasters if this trend
continues.
The FTA channels, who have seen a
big growth in viewership, had
garnered an estimated Rs 4–5 billion
in ad revenue and are expected to
earn Rs 8–10 billion this year.

www.indiantelevision.com

 

[AsitPaul]

Off topic:

What about DD FD STB?
When can we get them?
Any update?

 

[JitendraKumar]

Off topic:

What about DD FD STB?
When can we get them?
Any update?

I think in April 2018....