With the DD FreeDish e-auction of MPEG-2 slots coming to an end, it has emerged that Hindi news broadcasters have collectively paid 16.56% higher for the slots than last year.

This year, 13 Hindi news channels bagged the DD FreeDish slots for a total of Rs 231.95 crore. In 2023, this figure stood at Rs 199 crore for 14 slots.

ABP News and News 18 India both were at the top of the tally with a bid of Rs 18.95 crore. The other channels that picked up slots under Bucket C (Hindi news channels) were Zee News, NDTV, Aaj Tak, R Bharat, News 24, India TV, GNT, TV9 Bharatvarsh, Times Now Navbharat, News Nation and India Daily Live. The Hindi news genre saw the second-highest spends at Rs 231.95 crore after Hindi movies.

So, what drove Hindi news channels to go all out this year?

Most industry experts, e4m spoke to, pointed out that the absence of the Big 4 broadcasters, the DTH platform's enormous reach and the upcoming general elections spurred this aggressive bidding.

"News broadcasters expected the big four broadcasters to bid for the Hindi GEC slot, so they went all out in the bidding," said a senior news broadcaster on the condition of anonymity. In the first round, broadcasters compete in the same category, while in the subsequent rounds, they compete in different genres as well. Hence, this category saw high bidding from all news broadcasters, he explained.

Another industry observer also had a similar take: "Since the Big 4 did not bid for the GEC slots, news broadcasters ended up paying more than last year because broadcasters for Hindi GECs always bid higher."

“Moreover, bidding for slots on DD FreeDish offers news broadcasters a valuable opportunity to expand their reach, and enhance their brand visibility in the newer markets,” he added.

Last year, 14 channels that won the slots included Aaj Tak, GNT, TV9 Bharatvarsh, News18 India, R Bharat, Zee News, ABP News, NDTV India, India TV, News Nation, Times Now Navbharat, Bharat24, News 24 and India News.

Sharing further observations, an industry expert stated that news channels invested heavily in the auction because it is an election year and they all want to be available on DD Free Dish.

As reported earlier by e4m, in the case of Bucket C, the reserve price stood at Rs 7 crore. The TV news channels paid 2.7 times the base price. While Zee News paid 20.97% more than the previous year, NDTV shelled out 13.29% more. In the case of Aaj Tak, it was 24.83% higher, ABP (10.82%), and R Bharat (8.76%). News18 was the only broadcaster to secure the slot by paying less, at 3.07%.