DD Free Dish expands reach with greater representation of languages from southern States

Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs L. Murugan on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) said the government had taken various proactive measures to increase the representation of languages from southern States on DD Free Dish.

In a written response to a query in Lok Sabha, the Minister said DD Free Dish had experienced consistent growth in its reach over the past few years. As per industry estimates, it reached 49 million households nationwide as of 2024. The figure was 33 million in 2018.

“The Government has taken various proactive measures to increase the representation of South Indian language channels on DD Free Dish, including: for better regional representation, slots had been reserved for South Indian language channels in the e-auctions of DD Free Dish platform (done in 2025),” said the reply.

The eligibility norms have been simplified to ensure greater participation from private broadcasters in the southern region. “Furthermore, dedicated slots were offered for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam channels in recent e-auctions. Three additional South Indian language private channels viz. TV9 Telugu, Aastha Kannada & Aastha Telugu, have been onboarded on DD Free Dish since April 1, 2025,” it said.

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 Free Dish, which are relaying programs in various South Indian languages,” said the reply.

Responding to another question, the Minister said the government had undertaken measures for the modernisation and expansion of Akashvani and Doordarshan Kendras (DDK) across all the States.

“The Kendras are being upgraded under the Central Sector Scheme -- Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development (BIND). This includes major upgrades throughout the country, including Bihar, to strengthen public broadcasting. The scheme has been approved with a total outlay of Rs. 2,539.61 crore for the period 2021-26,” it said.

The government has also sanctioned various projects for the modernisation of broadcasting infrastructure in Bihar. “It includes ₹64.56 crore for modernisation of Akashvani Kendras and Rs.4.31 crore for modernisation of Doordarshan Kendras,” said the reply.