DD Direct Plus now Rebranded as FREEDISH

MUMBAI: Doordarshan’s direct-to-home (DTH) platform, DD Direct+ has been renamed to ‘FREEDISH’. The trademark has been registered and highlights its unique proposition of being free from any monthly payment for life. DD conducts a transparent e-auction for placement of private channels on its DTH platform. In the recently concluded e- auction, a new system of e-auctioning was adopted after approval of the Prasar Bharati Board. “The new system of e-auctioning, in which auctioning was done for 28 channel slots, has yielded positive results. In comparison to previous years e-auctioning, where the average price per channel for 28 channels auctioned was Rs 2.73 crore, in the present year the average price has risen sharply to Rs 3.7 crore, a growth of nearly Rs 1 crore per channel,” states a report sent by DD. The platform is also planning to expand its channel carrying capacity. The work contracts, according to the report sent by DD, has already been finalised and equipments are now being shipped for taking the total carrying capacity of the DTH platform to nearly 120 channels, which doubles the present capacity of 59 channels. DD expects that the increase in number of channels will lead to substantial increase in the viewership base.