77th e-auction for MPEG-2 slots became unsuccessful

28th May 2024 - According to media sources, no broadcaster participated in the 77th e-auction held on May 28, as some say the reserve price was too high.

Prasar Bharati invites applications for allotment of vacant MPEG-2 slots of DD Free Dish DTH Platform for the period from 01.06.2024 to 31.03.2025 through 77 online e-auction process to be tentatively held on 28 May 2024. The e-auction will be conducted by the E-auction Methodology for allotment of DD Free Dish slots to private TV channels, notified by Prasar Bharati on 27.01.2023 and subsequent Amendment Dated 13. 12.2023 which are available on the Prasar Bharati website, http://prasarbharati.gov.in.

Information -

Period - 01.06.2024 to 31.03.2025

Slots - MPEG-2 Slot 

Only satellite channels licensed by the Ministry of I&B would be allowed to participate in the e-auction. Only companies holding valid permission from the Ministry of I & B can apply for participation in the e-auction for the allocation of the DD Free Dish slot. International Public Broadcasters licensed by the Ministry of I & B can also participate in e-auction.

Categorization of TV channels in different buckets by genres and language of channel for the allotment period will be as below.

S. No.	Bucket	Genre / Language
1.	Bucket A+	GEG (Hindi / Urdu) Channels
2.	Bucket A	Movie (Hindi / Urdu) Channels
3.	Bucket B	a.  Music (Hindi / Urdu) Channels b.  Sports (Hindi / Urdu) Channels c.   All Channels of Bhojpuri Language d.  All other remaining Genre of Hindi / Urdu
4.	Bucket C	News & Current Affairs (Hindi / Urdu) Channels
5.	Bucket D	a.  Devotional / Spiritual / Ayush b.  All Genres of Marathi & Punjabi Channels c.  News & Current Affairs (English) Channels
6.	Bucket Rl	This bucket is for all Channels in languages* not covered above

Interested broadcasters may apply online at https://fdslots.prasarbharati.org and upload all requisite documents as prescribed in the application. Please note that it is mandatory to pay the non-refundable processing fee of Rs.25,000/- online at the above portal to apply. The participation fee of Rs.1,50,00,000/- (Rupees one Crore Fifty Lakhs) is to be paid only through Demand Draft. A copy of the participation fee demand draft is to be uploaded online.

The Reserve Price for MPEG-2 slots for the commencement of e-auction for different Buckets shall be as under.

Round No.	Starting Reserve Price (in INR)	Buckets Eligible to Bid	Buckets Not Eligible to Bid
Round 1 (Bucket A+)	Rs. 17.69,87,000/-	A+,C,A,D,B,R1
Round 2 (Bucket C)	Rs.15,78,31,000/-	C,A,D,B,R1	A+
Round 3 (Bucket A)	Rs. 15,24, l7,000/-	A,D,B,R1	A+,C
Round 4 (Bucket D)	Rs. 15,07,5l,000/-	D,B,R1	A+,C,A
Round S (Bucket B)	Rs.14,99,18,000/-	B,RI	A+, C, A, D
Round 6 (Bucket Rl)	Rs.11,07,73,000/-	R1	R.+, C, A, D, B

Please note: It is short information about the 77th e-auction. Interested broadcasters read the complete information here.

HINDI