Prasar Bharati has announced the opening of applications for the allotment of MPEG-2 slots on its free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) platform, DD Free Dish.

The new round of applications kicks off the 87th online e-auction process, offering private satellite TV channels a window to reach millions of Indian homes through the country’s largest free DTH service.

According to the official notification issued by Prasar Bharati on April 29, 2025, the e-auction is open to all private satellite channels—excluding those that are mandatorily carried under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) directives.

International Public Broadcasters with valid MIB licenses and permissions are also eligible to participate. The auctioned slots will be valid for the period from May 20, 2025, to March 31, 2026, providing nearly 10 months of uninterrupted national reach for successful bidders.

As per the guidelines, interested broadcasters must submit their applications by May 8, 2025, along with a non-refundable processing fee of Rs.25,000 and a refundable participation fee of ₹1.5 crore. Eligibility requirements include possession of valid downlinking permission granted by the MIB, in addition to detailed disclosures of the channel’s genre and programming for the last and upcoming quarters.

The online auction is tentatively scheduled for May 13, 2025, after a verification round of all applications and supporting documents. The bidding process will follow the ‘E-auction Methodology 2025’ as outlined by Prasar Bharati in a notification dated January 3, 2025, which is publicly accessible on the broadcaster’s official website.

Only those satellite TV channels that are fully licensed by the MIB will be considered for slot allotment. Channels currently carried on DD Free Dish through mandatory provisions are not eligible for this auction.

DD Free Dish remains one of the most widely accessed DTH platforms in the country, reaching millions of households—particularly in rural and underserved regions—without charging any subscription fee. The 87th auction round is expected to generate strong interest from broadcasters across genres looking to tap into this vast viewer base.