His grouse is with the pay broadcasters, who are discriminating between DD Free Dish and pay platforms like Tata Sky. Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal asserts that he loves DD Free Dish as a platform since it is a stepping stone for free TV users to someday migrate to pay platforms. In the last few years, DTH operators have lost millions of low paying subscribers to DD Free Dish. This phenomenon has raised concern among pay DTH players, who are seeing the migration of customers to DD Free Dish. Private broadcasters and DD Free Dish are feeding off each other as the availability of quality content at no cost helps the free DTH operator to increase its adoption. The number of pay channels on the platform has seen a steady increase as broadcasters chase eyeballs and ad revenue. At present, DD Free Dish has 161 channels, of which 20 are pay channels. It is pertinent to note that DD Free Dish being a free platform doesn't come under the tariff framework.ĭD Free Dish, which reaches an estimated 40+ million TV homes, has emerged as a magnet for broadcasters to reach rural viewers. The MRP of pay channels will have to be uniform across all distribution platforms. As per the New Tariff Order (NTO), broadcasters have to designate channels either as free to air (FTA) or pay and the two set of channels cannot be bundled. The DTH operators have alleged that the availability of pay channels for free on DD Free Dish is discriminatory and goes against the basic principles of the new tariff regime, which provides for a level-playing field and parity. The TRAI is yet to take any action in the matter. In the recent past, Dish TV, Bharti Telemedia, and Tata Sky have written to TRAI to look into the issue and restrain pay broadcasters from offering pay channels to DD Free Dish. Private direct to home (DTH) operators have renewed their demands to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to act against broadcasters who are offering pay channels to Prasar Bharati's free DTH platform DD Free Dish.

Free dish channel list 2019