Prasar Bharati announces amendment to DD Free Dish e-auction methodology

Prasar Bharati, India’s public service broadcaster, has notified amendments to the e-auction methodology for allotting slots on its DD Free Dish platform to private satellite channels. The changes, effective immediately, aim to enhance transparency, ensure genre and language compliance, and promote regional content diversity on the platform.

The first and most notable modification is that the iconic “All India Radio” has now been officially rebranded as “Aakashwani,” aligning with the national radio broadcaster’s official nomenclature.

Revised Channel Buckets and Genre/Language:

Bucket A+: This top-tier category now embraces General Entertainment Channels (GEC) in both Hindi and Urdu, expanding beyond its previous scope limited to Hindi GEC alone.

Bucket A: This buck includes Movies encompassing both Hindi and Urdu, superseding the previous exclusivity to Hindi movies. Teleshopping channels, meanwhile, have now been removed from this category.

Bucket B: This grouping now includes Hindi and Urdu Music and sports channels, broadening from its previous confinement to solely Hindi Music and Sports channels. Additionally, all channels of the Bhojpuri language are retained, and other remaining genres of Hindi and Urdu language channels have also been incorporated into this bucket.

Bucket C: Similar to the above buckets, exclusively Hindi News channels have been replaced with a more inclusive category covering both Hindi and Urdu News channels.

Bucket D: This bucket sees a transformation, now comprising Devotional channels, all genres of Punjabi & Urdu, and English News. However, it no longer includes all remaining genres of Hindi language as the same has been shifted to Bucket B.

Bucket R1: Bucket R1 remained unchanged and continues to incorporate all channels that do not fall into any of the aforementioned genres and languages. 

Stricter genre and language adherence

Broadcasters seeking slots on DD Free Dish are now required to explicitly declare the genre and language of their channels, ensuring compliance with established norms. Moreover, a stringent requirement mandates that at least 75% of the content aired on a channel must align with the declared genre and language, excluding advertisements.

These amendments by Prasar Bharati are likely to have a significant impact on the Indian broadcasting industry, particularly private satellite channels vying for slots on the DD Free Dish platform. The emphasis on genre and language compliance may necessitate content adjustments for some channels to meet the stipulated requirements. Additionally, the stricter mid-year auction process could lead to more competitive bidding for slots, potentially impacting channel pricing and viewership.