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New Delhi: The first day of the 8th annual DD Free Dish e-auctions saw top broadcasters – JioStar, Zee, Sony and Sun Network – winning a total of eight MPEG-2 slots across Buckets A+ and A.
While the winning bids were lower, the start was sharper than in past years, when Day 1 was largely reserved for training and rehearsals with limited allotments.
This year’s Day 1 tally of eight winners matches the pace seen on Day 2 last year, when the running total had climbed to 11 slots.
In Bucket A+ (Hindi/Urdu GEC; Round 1 starting reserve Rs 15 crore), Sony PAL emerged as the highest bidder among the Day 1 winners at Rs 16.55 crore, followed by Star Utsav at Rs 16.25 crore. Shemaroo TV closed at Rs 16.35 crore, while Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sun Neo each won slots at Rs 16.40 crore.
In Bucket A (Hindi/Urdu Movies; Round 2 starting reserve Rs 12 crore), Sony WAH won a slot at Rs 13.95 crore, and Zee Anmol Cinema closed at Rs 13.45 crore.
The Day 1 bids reflected a premium of around 8–10 per cent in Bucket A+ and about 12–16 per cent in Bucket A.
DD Free Dish winners: 2026 Day 1 vs 2025
| Bucket | Channel | 2026 bidding price (Rs crore) | 2025 bidding price (Rs crore) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | Sony PAL | 16.55 | 18.55 |
| A+ | Star Utsav | 16.25 | 18.25 |
| A+ | Shemaroo TV | 16.35 | New |
| A+ | Zee Anmol | 16.40 | 18.6 |
| A+ | Colors Rishtey | 16.40 | 18.35 |
| A+ | Sun Neo | 16.40 | 18.5 |
| A | Sony WAH | 13.95 | 16.55 |
| A | Zee Anmol Cinema | 13.45 | 16.6 |
Bidding is expected to be faster going forward, following tighter auction rules issued by Prasar Bharati through its first amendment to the 2025 methodology, effective January 9, 2026.
The change removed the separate “Bucket R” for certain regional language channels, folding Schedule 8 regional languages (except Hindi and Urdu) into Bucket D, and raising the minimum entry point for those players to Bucket D’s Rs 6 crore reserve.
With auctions continuing over subsequent rounds and buckets, the industry will watch whether bidding intensity builds as more genres come up, and whether demand shifts after the early A+ and A clearances.