Tag: E-Auction

Broadcasters pay premium in DD Free Dish auction, total revenue hits Rs 208 crore

MUMBAI: Leading broadcasters have secured slots in Prasar Bharati’s 85th e-auction for DD Free Dish, with the public broadcaster earning Rs 208.10 crore from eleven slots in the first two days of bidding.

In the premium Bucket A+ category for Hindi general entertainment channels, Zee Anmol led the bidding at Rs 18.60 crore, followed by Star Utsav at Rs 18.25 crore and Big Magic at Rs 17.25 crore. Sony PAL, Colors Rishtey, and Sun Neo secured their slots at Rs 18.55 crore, Rs 18.35 crore, and Rs 18.50 crore respectively.

The movie channel category (Bucket A) saw Star Utsav Movies securing a slot for Rs 16.95 crore, whilst Colors Cineplex Superhits, Sony Wah, and Zee Anmol Cinema followed with bids of Rs 16.50 crore, Rs 16.60 crore, and Rs 16.55 crore respectively.

In the news category (Bucket C), NDTV India, now owned by the Adani Group, secured the first slot for Rs 14.35 crore, followed by Republic Bharat at Rs 14.20 crore. These rates marked a significant drop from last year when news channels paid between Rs 16.35 crore and Rs 18.95 crore.

Notably, several channels including Zee Anmol, Star Utsav, Sony PAL, and Colors Rishtey returned to the platform after a three-year hiatus. The secured slots will be valid from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

The robust bidding came despite a recent TRAI directive requiring pay-TV channels on DD Free Dish to become free-to-air across all platforms, demonstrating broadcasters’ continued interest in the platform’s extensive rural reach.

(Some of these numbers have been accessed from The Economic Times)

February 12, 2025
MIB invites agencies to FM Radio Phase-III e-auction proposals

Mumbai: On behalf of the President of India, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has announced an invitation for proposals to select an agency for conducting the e-auction of private FM channels as part of FM Radio Phase-III.

The core of this initiative is the selection of a competent agency to manage the e-auction process. As outlined in the Request for Proposal (RFP), the MIB seeks an agency capable of handling this complex auction with transparency and efficiency. Eligible entities include companies registered under the Companies Act of 1956/2013, foreign companies with a registered office in India, or consortia of such companies. The selected agency will oversee the allocation of FM radio frequencies according to the MIB’s guidelines.

Detailed information on the application procedures is available on the official MIB website and the Government’s e-procurement portal. The RFP, including the scope of work and eligibility criteria, can be accessed at [MIB’s website](http://www.mib.gov.in ) and [CPPP Portal](https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app ). Interested bidders should regularly visit these sites for updates and clarifications.

The deadline for bid submissions is 17 September 2024. Bidders must register on the e-tender portal and submit their proposals online, accompanied by a non-refundable application fee of Rs 50,000 through the Bharatkosh Portal. Additionally, a Bank Guarantee for Earnest Money Deposit must be physically submitted to the MIB’s FM Cell.

Phase III of this expansion aims to rejuvenate the FM radio sector by introducing more private players, enhancing regional representation, and broadening content offerings, from local news and cultural programming to diverse music genres. The auction process is vital for achieving these goals and ensuring that new FM channels enrich the media landscape.

Eligibility criteria for agencies include a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 2.5 Crore and a combined net worth of at least Rs 10 Crores. The RFP also requires CMMi level 3 (or above) certification and disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest with existing FM broadcasting companies.

As India advances with this FM radio expansion, the role of the selected agency will be crucial in managing the auction process and ensuring fair access for all participants. This initiative underscores the government’s commitment to a more inclusive and diverse media environment.

August 21, 2024
Prasar Bharati invites applications for 62 e-auctions of vacant MPEG-4 slots

Mumbai: The public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has invited applications for vacant MPEG-4 slots on the DD Free Dish DTH platform on a pro-rata basis for the period 24 August 2022 to 31 March 2023. The 62nd e-auction process will be tentatively held on 17 August and the last day to submit applications is 16 August.

“The bidding in the e-auction will be open to all genre (language)channels at a starting reserve price of Rs 1.01 crore,” said the public broadcaster in a notice on 8 August.

Only satellite channels licensed by the ministry of information and broadcasting ( MIB) will be allowed to participate in the e-auction. The companies holding valid permission from the MIB can apply for participation in e-auction for the allocation of the DD Free Dish slot. International public broadcasters licensed by MIB can also participate in the e-auction.

According to the circular, successful bidders will be required to make the payments in two monthly installments and as per the policy guidelines for the allotment of DD Free Dish slots. The channels participating in e-auction must pay a mandatory fee of Rs 25, 000 and a participation fee of Rs 10 lakh that should be paid via demand draft. Online training will be provided to all participants before the commencement of the actual e-auction.

The unsuccessful bidders will be refunded with a participation fee within three weeks after the declaration of the e-auction result.

DD Freedish is the free-to-air (FTA) direct to home (DTH) platform, which reaches more than 40 million households in the country. The reach of MPEG-4 is estimated between 2 to 3 million.

August 9, 2022
IPL e-auction: Viacom18, Disney Star & Times Internet win media rights for 2023-27

Mumbai: The 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights auction has concluded. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sold the rights at a combined value of Rs 48,390 crore. Disney Star has won the TV broadcast rights, Viacom18 has laid claim to the digital rights, including exclusive and non-exclusive games, and Times Internet has won the bid for international media rights.

“IPL is now the second most valued sporting league in the world in terms of per match value!” said BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Tuesday.

“The BCCI will utilize the revenue generated from IPL to strengthen our domestic cricket structure starting from grassroots, to boost infrastructure and spruce up facilities across India & enrich the overall cricket-watching experience.”

He further said, “Now, it’s time for our state associations, IPL franchises to work together with the IPL to enhance the fan experience and ensure that our biggest stakeholder – the cricket fan – is well looked after and enjoys high quality cricket in world-class facilities.”

The bidding for Package C and Package D concluded on Tuesday. Viacom18 and Times Internet shared Package D that included international media rights. Viacom18 won the rights to Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom while Times Internet won the rights to the rest of the world that included the Middle East and Africa (MENA) & US. Package D was sold for Rs 1,058 crore for five years or Rs 2.58 crore per match for 410 matches.

Package A for TV broadcast rights was won by Disney Star at the value of Rs 23,575 crore for five years or Rs 57.50 crore per match for 410 matches. Package B for digital broadcast rights for exclusive matches was sold to Viacom18 at Rs 20,500 crore for five years or Rs 50 crore per match for 410 matches. Viacom18 also won the bid for Package C that included non-exclusive digital matches at a value of Rs 3257.52 crore for five years or Rs 33.24 crore per match for 98 games.

Sony Pictures Networks India MD and CEO NP Singh said, “I want to begin by congratulating and thanking BCCI for an extremely well-managed and transparent bidding process. Next, I want to congratulate the winners of the four IPL media rights packages. The IPL began with SPN and has since developed into one of the world’s most popular sporting leagues in its 15-year history. We’ve seen the league grow and would have liked to see it on the Sony Network again. In this regard, we made a reasonable bid, considering all the expected returns. We had to factor in the market’s anticipated expansion and potential economic and other concerns over the next five years. Fiscal prudence, in my opinion, is critical for strategic management.”

The highly anticipated auction was first announced on 29 March by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The contenders for broadcast rights included Disney Star, Sony Pictures Networks India and Viacom18. The bidders for digital rights include Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Disney+ Hotstar and Reliance Jio. Mjunction conducted the auction.

The IPL is the second most valuable sports property after the National Football League (NFL) in terms of broadcast price per match. The value of the media rights per match has reached almost Rs 114 crore leaving the Premier League behind which is valued at around Rs 81 crore per match. The action continues on Wednesday.

June 14, 2022
IPL media rights ’22: Digital rights value surpasses TV on Day 3

Mumbai: The total value of digital broadcast rights (Indian subcontinent) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) has reached Rs 23,757.52 crore for five years on day three of the bidding process. This means that the value of digital media rights to the IPL has surpassed the TV broadcast rights valued at Rs 23,575 crore for the 2022-2027 cycle.

Package C which includes non-exclusive digital broadcast rights were sold to Viacom18 at a whopping Rs 3257.54 crore for five years or Rs 33.24 crore per match for 98 matches. Viacom18 has also successfully bid for the exclusive digital rights to the tournament valued at Rs 20,500 crore. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had set the base price for the non-exclusive digital rights at Rs 1568 crore for five years or Rs 16 crore per match.

The total valuation of IPL media rights for the next five years has reached Rs 47,332.52 crore. The bidding for Package D which includes international media rights is currently underway.

The highly anticipated auction was first announced on 29 March by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The contenders for broadcast rights included Disney Star, Sony Pictures Networks India and Viacom18. The bidders for digital rights include Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Disney+ Hotstar and Reliance Jio. Mjunction is conducting the auction.

The IPL is the second most valuable sports property after the National Football League (NFL) in terms of broadcast price per match. The value of the media rights per match has reached almost Rs 114 crore leaving the Premier League behind which is valued at around Rs 81 crore per match. The action continues on wednesday.

June 14, 2022
BCCI announces an increase in the monthly pensions of former cricketers and umpires

MUMBAI: At a time when the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) e-auction is making the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) richer by over Rs 46,000 crore, the board has announced a hike in monthly pensions of former cricketers (both men and women) and former umpires. More than 75 percent of the beneficiaries will get a 100 percent raise. People getting a pension of Rs 15,000 and Rs 22,500 a month will see that amount double. The highest bracket where the pension was Rs 50,000 will see a raise to Rs 70,000.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said, “It is extremely important that the financial well-being of our former cricketers is taken care of. The players remain the lifeline and as a Board, it is our duty to be by their side once their playing days are over. The umpires have been unsung heroes and the BCCI truly values their contribution.”

BCCI honorary secretary Jay Shah, said: “The welfare of our cricketers be it former or present is a top priority, and increasing pension amounts is a step in that direction. The BCCI values the contribution the umpires have made over the years and this is one way to express our gratitude for their diligent services to Indian Cricket. A total of around 900 personnel will get the benefit of the scheme with more than 75 percent of the beneficiaries getting a 100 percent raise.”

BCCI honorary treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal said, “Whatever the BCCI is today, it is because of the contribution of its former cricketers and umpires. We are pleased to announce the increase in the monthly pensions which will be a gesture for the well-being of our former cricketers.”

June 14, 2022
2022 IPL media rights value touches Rs 46,700 crore on Day 2

Mumbai: The Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights value has touched Rs 46,700 crore at the end of day two of the e-auction on Monday. The rights period is from 2023 to 2027 for 410 matches.

TV rights went for Rs 23,575 crore while digital went for Rs 20,500 crore. TV will cost Rs 57.5 crore a game while digital will cost Rs 50 crore a game. There will be at least two broadcast partners.

Two different broadcasters won the TV (Package A) and digital (Package B) broadcast rights. Reports indicate that Reliance Jio has won Package B. So far, the price of the combined TV and digital rights this year is almost three times the amount that Star India had paid in 2017.

On the second day, the price of digital rights per match rose by Rs 2 crore from Rs 48 crore at the end of day one. But the price for TV rights only rose by Rs 50 lakhs a match when the bidding resumed on the second day.

There is more drama to come. The digital non-exclusive rights (Package C) that include 98 games over five years are valued at Rs 18.5 crore per match. Bidders that did not get their hands on Package A and B may make a play for Package C. If Reliance Jio is unable to win the bid for Package C it would be unable to maximise the value of the digital broadcast rights which would be a blow to its revenue.

Package D includes the media rights for the rest of the world and is set at a base price of Rs 3 crore per match or Rs 1,110 crore over five years.

The highly anticipated auction was first announced on 29 March by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The contenders for broadcast rights included Disney Star, Sony Pictures Networks India and Viacom18. The bidders for digital rights include Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Disney+ Hotstar and Reliance Jio. Mjunction is conducting the auction.

The IPL is the second most valuable sports property after the National Football League (NFL) in terms of broadcast price per match. The value of the media rights per match has reached almost Rs 114 crore leaving the Premier League behind which is valued at around Rs 81 crore per match. The action continues tomorrow.

June 13, 2022
DD Free Dish announces new channel numbers effective 1 April

Mumbai: Prasar Bharati’s free direct-to-home (DTH) platform DD Free Dish has announced the new channel numbers for 167 TV channels and 48 radio channels that will come into effect from 1 April. The TV channels comprise 91 Doordarshan channels including 51 cobranded educational channels and 76 private TV channels.

The private TV channels bouquet comprises eight Hindi general entertainment channels, 15 Hindi movie channels, six music channels, 22 news channels, 9 Bhojpuri channels, four devotional channels and two foreign channels.

“The new channel lineup has rendered the DD Free Dish bouquet more diverse and engaging than ever,” said the statement.

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s dedicated food channel ‘Food Food’ has been added along with a new sports channel ‘MyCam.’

In the latest e-auction for allotment of MPEG-2 slots of DD Free Dish, 63 channels were successfully allocated slots in various genres. The number of channels on DD Free Dish has also increased under multiple buckets this year. In the news and current affairs category, the number of channels has increased from 11 to 14, while the bucket of Hindi music, Hindi sports, Hindi teleshopping channels, Bhojpuri movies and Bhojpuri GEC has registered growth from 13 to 16.

“With improved auction processes leading to addition of better quality and quantity of channels in various genres, between 2017 and 2022 alone, the free DTH service of Doordarshan clocked a stellar growth of almost 100 per cent from 22 million in 2017 to 43 million in 2022,” said the statement.

“DD Free Dish has become the largest DTH platform with a reach of more than 43 million households,” said the statement.

This year’s FICCI-EY report found that free television continued to grow its base to reach an estimated 43 million subscribers on the back of less expensive TV sets, economic issues, and the addition of new channels to the platform. The report also quoted Free Dish distributors mentioning the year-on-year growth in sales of DD Free Dish set-top-boxes.

“In stark comparison to 22 million subscribers in 13 years between 2004 and 2017, DD Free Dish’s growth over the last five years stands out,” said the statement. “In just five years between 2017 and 2022, Free Dish has added another 21 million subscribers, taking the total to 43 million.”

The DD Free Dish set-top-box can be purchased for a one-time fee of Rs 2000 where the viewer does not have to pay any monthly subscription fee.

March 31, 2022
Prasar Bharati to monetise its premium and archival content

Mumbai: Prasar Bharati has approved a policy on monetisation of archival and premium content of All India Radio, Doordarshan and new units of the public broadcaster.

“This policy will ensure that archival and premium contents of Prasar Bharati are syndicated to third parties through an open and transparent mechanism of e-auction, in order to fetch maximum market value of content on-demand basis,” it said in a statement.

The broadcaster observed that TV channels as well as new channels on OTT are looking for good saleable content. This has created a demand for programme content of Prasar Bharati in India and overseas for the purpose of broadcast as well as streaming. The possibility for monetising this content requires a well-defined content syndication policy, it noted.

As per the policy, the public broadcaster will monetise its available content through e-auction to third parties for linear broadcasting (TV/Radio) and on-demand viewing/listening through internet platforms. The available content will be curated into compelling catalogues for the purpose of syndication at the catalogue level.

An online portal will be created for the management of the entire life cycle of the syndication from registration to grant of rights, payment and content sharing. The e-auction may be held for global linear broadcast rights, global on-demand rights, India linear broadcast rights and India on-demand rights, it said on Thursday.

October 15, 2021
54 channels submit bids for 44th DD Free Dish e-auction

MUMBAI: Fifty four channels have submitted bids for the 44th DD Free Dish e-auction, which will be tentatively held on 24 February for MPEG-2 slots.

HSM channels:

According to sources close to the development, two Hindi GECs Dangal and Big Magic have bid for the auction. Among other HSM channels, seven Hindi music channels including Showbox, 9XM, MTV Beats and eleven Hindi movie channels like B4U Movies, Enter10 are also looking at vacant MPEG-2 slots. All the major players like News18 India, NDTV India, Zee News, Aaj Tak, Republic Bharat have also placed their bids.

Regional channels:

In the regional cluster seven Bhojpuri channels including Big Magic Ganga, Zee Biscope, B4U Bhojpuri, one Marathi channel, four Punjabi channels and four regional news channels have placed their bids. Moreover, four religious channels are also participating the auction.

Recently DD Free dish increased MPEG-2 slots on its platform. Private TV channels can participate in this e-auction to add TV channels on DD Free Dish, for the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. In the 42nd e-auction for allotment of 8 MPEG-2 slots the channels that came on board were mostly new.

As per the rules mentioned by the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, only satellite channels licensed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) would be allowed to participate in the allocation. International Public Broadcasters licensed/ registered/permitted by the MIB can also participate in the e-auction.

February 19, 2020