Prasar Bharati okays auctioning of slots on DD’S Freedish service

NEW DELHI: The decks have been cleared for the auctioning of slots on DD Freedish, after a new policy for e-auctioning and a revised base price was approved by the board of public broadcaster Prasar Bharati on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter.

The auctioning of slots was suspended in October last year, after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), then headed by Smriti Irani decided that the policy was helping private broadcasters earn more money and did not benefit Prasar Bharati.

DD Free Dish is a free-to-air direct-broadcast satellite television service owned and operated by Prasar Bharati, an autonomous body under the MIB.

According to one functionary who asked not to be named, the board of Prasar Bharati has approved the revised Freedish Policy and base prices ranging from ₹6 crore to ₹15 crore depending on the bouquet of services while authorising the chief executive officer to make changes in the policy or uture refinements, based on the advice of the ministry.

The revised policy will now be shared with the MIB and later notified. After the policy was suspended, private broadcasters nudged MIB to revisit the existing policy and come out with a “more transparent procedure” and flagged their concerns to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The policy allowed vacant slots to be allotted to private broadcasters through e-auctions; according to MIB officials the last e-auction that took place in July 2017 earned Rs 85.10 crore through sales to 11 private broadcasters.

DD FREE DISH IS A FREETOAIR DIRECTBROADCAST SATELLITE TELEVISION SERVICE OWNED AND OPERATED BY PRASAR BHARATI, AN AUTONOMOUS BODY UNDER THE MIB