Prasar Bharati has released a new notice inviting applications for the Mid-Year 101st e-Auction of MPEG-4 slots on the DD Free Dish platform. This auction is for allotment of vacant MPEG-4 slots on a pro-rata basis for the period from 1 August 2026 to 31 March 2027.
According to the notice dated 15 July 2026, the 101st online e-Auction process is tentatively scheduled to start from 23 July 2026, Thursday. The auction will be conducted as per the DD Free Dish e-Auction Methodology 2025 and its subsequent amendments.
Which channels can participate?
Only satellite TV channels permitted and licensed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting are allowed to participate in this e-Auction. International Public Broadcasters permitted and licensed by the Ministry of I&B may also participate.
Auction buckets and genres
For this e-Auction, TV channels have been categorised into different buckets based on genre and language:
| Bucket | Genre / Language |
|---|---|
| R1 | Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam language channels |
| R2 | Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Odiya language channels |
| R3 | Other regional language channels listed in Schedule 8 of the Indian Constitution, except Hindi and Urdu, not covered under R1 and R2 |
| G1 | News and Current Affairs TV channels |
| G2 | Non-News and Current Affairs TV channels |
View original Notification by Prasar Bharati here.
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Last date to apply
The last date for submission of applications and proof of deposit of participation fee is 21 July 2026, Tuesday, by 3:00 PM. Broadcasters are advised to submit their applications and required documents before the deadline.
Good News for DD Free Dish users -
So this e-Auction may bring new private TV channels to the DD Free Dish MPEG-4 platform. After the auction process is completed and successful channels are allotted slots, viewers may see new channels added to DD Free Dish depending on the final allotment and technical placement.
Successful channels will be placed on vacant slots / Logical Channel Numbers as per Prasar Bharati’s procedure. The final decision regarding channel placement will remain with Prasar Bharati.