We have some very exciting news for both TV broadcasters and our millions of loyal viewers across the country. Prasar Bharati, India's public service broadcaster, has officially released a new notification announcing the Mid-Year 99th e-Auction for the allotment of vacant MPEG-4 slots on the DD Free Dish DTH platform.
This mid-year e-auction will happen on a pro-rata basis, allowing new channels to join our favorite free-to-air service very soon. Let’s break down all the important details you need to know about this upcoming event.
Important Dates to Remember
If you are a broadcaster or just an enthusiastic viewer tracking the latest updates, keep these crucial dates noted down:
Official Notification Released: 18th May 2026.
Last Date for Submitting Applications: 25th May 2026 (Monday) by 03:00 PM.
Tentative e-Auction Start Date: 26th May 2026 (Tuesday) onwards.
Allotment Period: The successful channels will get their slot on the platform from 5th June 2026 until 31st March 2027.
Who Can Participate?
As per the official guidelines, only satellite TV channels that hold valid permission and a license from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) are allowed to participate in this online e-auction process. Furthermore, permitted international public broadcasters can also apply to take part in the bidding.
Categories (Buckets) and Starting Reserve Prices
Prasar Bharati has classified the television channels into different "buckets" based on language and genre, each having its own starting reserve price and minimum bid increments:
Bucket G1 (News & Current Affairs):
The starting reserve price for news channels is set at INR 61,65,000, with a bid increment of INR 1,00,000.
Bucket G2 (All Genres of Non-News & Current Affairs):
This bucket covers general entertainment, movies, and other non-news channels, starting at a reserve price of INR 60,00,000, with a bid increment of INR 1,00,000.
Bucket R2 (Regional Languages -
Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Odiya): The reserve price begins at INR 34,53,000, with an increment value of INR 50,000.
Bucket R1 (South Indian Languages -
Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam): The starting reserve price for this regional bucket is INR 31,65,000, with an increment of INR 50,000.
Bucket R3 (Other Regional Languages):
This covers all remaining regional languages mentioned in Schedule 8 of the Indian Constitution (except Hindi & Urdu), starting at a reserve price of INR 4,94,000, with a bid increment of INR 50,000.
Application Fees & Process
Interested broadcasters who want to lock in a slot must apply online through the official portal at https://fdslots.prasarbharati.org. There is a mandatory, non-refundable online processing fee of Rs. 25,000 to submit the application.
In addition to that, a participation fee of Rs. 3,00,000 (Three Lakhs) needs to be deposited via Demand Draft or RTGS. However, there is a relief for regional broadcasters in Buckets R1 and R3, where the participation fee is capped at either 60% of the starting reserve price or Rs. 3 Lakhs, whichever is lower.
Strict Content Guidelines
Prasar Bharati has placed strict rules regarding the genre and language of the broadcasted content to maintain transparency. Successful channels must ensure that their programming predominantly matches their declared category. Specifically, at least 75% of the monthly content (excluding advertisements and promos) must be in the language and genre they bid for. In practice, this means the declared content must make up no less than 60% of the total monthly broadcast. Defaulters face warnings or termination if they switch genres without permission.
What This Means for DD Free Dish Viewers
For us viewers, this is fantastic news! Since this is a mid-year auction for vacant MPEG-4 slots, we can expect a variety of new regional, entertainment, or news channels to be added to our setups starting from June 5, 2026. It’s a great move that continues to expand the variety on DD Free Dish, keeping it the largest free DTH platform in the country.
Don't worry about space in MPEG-4 slots, there are about 100+ slots can be vacant for private TV channels.
Make sure your MPEG-4 set-top boxes are ready and fully scanned in the first week of June to see who wins the bids! Stay tuned to freedish.in for more instant updates, live channel lists, and e-auction results as they happen.
What channels are you hoping to see join the platform this time?
Let us know in the comments below! You can find the updated DD Free dish MPEG-4 TV channels list here.