Proactive measures underway to deepen DD Freedish footprint in South: I&B Ministry

New Delhi:The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is gearing up to deepen DD Freedish’s footprint in the southern parts of the country. 

Responding to queries in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. L. Murugan, confirmed that DD Freedish, India’s only free-to-air Direct-To-Home (DTH) platform, has grown its reach to approximately 49 million households as of 2024, up from 33 million in 2018.

While the platform already serves remote, border, and rural areas, the Government has acknowledged challenges in increasing DD Freedish’s footprint in southern states. To address this, a series of targeted steps have been rolled out in recent months.

The I&B MoS, Dr L Murugan, in his answer to the query, wrote, “The Government has taken various proactive measures to increase the representation of South Indian language channels on DD Freedish.” 

He further added that slots have been reserved specifically for South Indian language channels in the latest DD Freedish e-auctions, and eligibility norms have been simplified to encourage more private broadcasters from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, and Kerala to participate.

“Doordarshan's own regional channels, such as DD Tamil, DD Saptagiri, DD Chandana, DD Yadagiri, and DD Malayalam have also been onboarded. The channels are being technologically upgraded and better promoted to enhance their visibility. Apart from this, there are 27 educational channels on DD Freedish, which are relaying programs in various South Indian languages,” the MoS of I&B ministry wrote. 

Under the Broadcasting Infrastructure & Network Development (BIND) Scheme 2021-26, new transmitters have been approved in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, Chamba, and Dharampur to strengthen Doordarshan and All India Radio coverage in difficult terrains.

Currently, the DD Freedish bouquet includes 92 private channels and 50 Doordarshan channels, providing a rich mix of national and regional content for millions of households that cannot access or afford paid TV subscriptions.