Article Six FTA channels fatten up DD’s DTH purse by Rs 23 crore

[Deepu]

The e-auction for six slots on DD Free Dish, the free-to-air (FTA) direct-to-home (DTH) service from public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, has fetched over Rs 22.8 crore (Rs 228 million).

As per industry sources, six channels— Star Utsav, Zee Anmol, Rishtey (Viacom18), B4U Music, News Nation and Big Magic—shelled out anywhere between Rs 3.8 crore (Rs 38 million) and Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) for a place on the FTA platform.

“In the current scenario, where it has only 60 frequencies, DD Free Dish presents a lucrative proposition, at this price. It has 12–14 million subscribers, and the quality FTA channels are very few. Thus, the chance of viewing contribution is very high,” explained a top executive of a FTA channel.

In the 14th e-auction, Free Dish had called for bidding for six slots, as its annual contracts with six channels—Star Utsav, Big Magic, P7 News, Cinema TV, News Nation and Zee Anmol—were expiring on 15 August.

Viacom18’s Rishtey, which was launched in December last year, was available on an empty frequency, thus it also went for auction.

The next round of auctions is expected in October.

Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/dth/six-fta-channels-fatten-up-dds-dth-purse-by-rs-23-crore/ | TelevisionPost.com

 

[IndianMascot]

Star, Zee and Viacom 18 among successful bidders for FTA channels on DD Freedish

Rishtey owned by Viacom18, Zee Anmol and Star Utsav are among the six slots filled through the 14th online e-auction for the direct-to-home (DTH) service of Doordarshan Freedish conducted on 11 and 12 August.

Doordarshan sources told indiantelevision.com that the slots were auctioned in the range of Rs 4.5 crore to Rs 4.7 crore, while the reserve price had been Rs 3 crore. The other slots went to Big Magic, B4U Music, and Shree News.

The e-Auction was conducted by Synise Technologies, Pune, on behalf of Prasar Bharati.

Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar had said earlier this month that the aim was to reach the target of 97 channels by October-end and 125 by March-end.

The participation amount given by the channels had been Rs 1.5 crore which was deposited in advance along with processing fee of Rs 10,000 (non-refundable).

Applicants also deposited a demand draft of Rs 5,500 as registration amount (mandatory) favouring Synise Technologies, payable at Pune at the time of submission of the application.



Star, Zee and Viacom 18 among successful bidders for FTA channels on DD Freedish | Indian Television Dot Com