FreeDish auction nets Rs.208cr in 2 days; major GECs return

Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has generated a whopping Rs.208.10 crore in just two days from its ongoing DD FreeDish MPEG-2 slot suction, The Economic Times has reported.

The auction saw some of India’s biggest General Entertainment Channels (GECs) return to the free-to-air (FTA) platform after a three-year break.

Those making a comeback included Zee Anmol, Star Utsav, Sony Pal and Colors Rishtey, all of which secured slots under the Bucket A+ category, reserved for Hindi and Urdu GECs.

The first two days of the auction witnessed the sale of 11 slots, with six from Bucket A+ (Hindi and Urdu GECs) and five from Bucket A (Hindi and Urdu movie channels).

Three major GECs successfully bid for slots, according to the ET report, and included Zee Anmol (Rs.18.60 crore),
Star Utsav (Rs.18.25 crore) and
Zee Big Magic (Rs.17.25 crore).
This brought the total revenue from Bucket A+ slots to Rs.109.50 crore, reflecting a 10.98 percent decline compared to last year’s sales, which stood at Rs.123 crore.

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Yugal Kishore Sharma CEO, ONEOTT Intertainment Limited

Amazing and grim battle for survival. Guess it will end up in Supreme Court. All that NCLT asked Zee to do was to file a reply to Invesco petition for a EGM. Now this is getting too serious. So far Invesco has been hammered for demanding an EGM. What is Zee upto? Ofcourse my lawyer community knows better!