DD Freedish e-auction: Prices set to fall further for Hindi news channels

New Delhi: The bidding for Bucket C in the first round of DD Freedish e-auctions on Wednesday not only vindicated BestMediaInfo.com’s headlines suggesting much lower prices for the Hindi news genre but also hinted that prices will fall even further.

While the first slot was picked up by Adani Group-owned NDTV India for Rs 14.35 crore, the bidding price continued to fall with each subsequent bid.

Also read: DD Freedish e-auction LIVE: Times Now Navbharat buys 6th bucket C slot for Rs 13.4 crore

The second slot went to Republic Bharat for Rs 14.2 crore, the third to News18 India for Rs 14.1 crore, the fourth to ABP News for Rs 14 crore, the fifth to Zee News for Rs 13.55 crore, and the sixth to Times Now Navbharat for Rs 13.4 crore.

It is important to note that about six channels, including the likes of Aaj Tak, India TV, TV9 Bharatvarsh, and Good News Today, were not ready to pay more than Rs 13.35 crore, just one step behind the price paid by Times Now Navbharat.

Also read: Will news channels’ DD Freedish bids reflect market realities this year?

This implies that these channels will not bid in Bucket A+ or Bucket A, with reserve prices of Rs 16 crore and Rs 13 crore, respectively, in the second and third rounds of e-auctions.

Instead, they will wait for the fourth round, reserved for Bucket B with a reserve price of Rs 11 crore. If the bidding in Bucket C goes beyond reasonable levels, these channels will wait for the fifth round for Bucket C, with a base price of Rs 8 crore.

BestMediaInfo.com reported last week that the government’s push for more regional language channels under Bucket R1 with separate slots may bring prices further down.

"If the government intends to onboard more than six regional language channels in Bucket R, the bucket should be repeated in the second round. These channels cannot bid in the A+ or higher buckets. This gives Hindi news channels hope that Bucket C, with a reserve price of Rs 8 crore, will be repeated in the second round," an industry expert explained.

Moreover, sources told BestMediaInfo.com that a few independent GECs (names withheld) were participating in Bucket A+ but had decided to bid up to a certain level. It will be interesting to see how these broadcasters manage to get a slot under Rs 17.25 crore in the second round, the last price paid by Big Magic in the first round.

The second round’s reserve price is Rs 16 crore.

While there are a few takers in the second round, such as Dangal TV, among others, it is highly unlikely that the bidding would continue to be as aggressive as in the first round.

In the first round of e-auctions for Bucket A, top broadcasters secured all six slots following aggressive bidding, while strong contenders such as Goldmines showed restraint. The lowest price in this round was Rs 15.65 crore, implying that the remaining independents will not bid in the second round for Bucket A+. They will wait for the fourth round, reserved for Movie channels with a base price of Rs 13 crore.

Multiple industry experts cautioned the remaining news channels against "bucket hopping" in panic and advised them to wait for the fifth round of the e-auction.

While Prasar Bharati has consistently maintained that revealing the number of available slots beforehand would undermine the auction process, standard auction practice dictates that the number of bidding rounds is determined by bidding activity, not a fixed cap.