Zee News bags slot for DD Freedish auction

The result is out. DD Freedish has its slot taken after the auction. Zee News will be the one being added to the circle of Hindi news channels accessible on the public broadcaster’s direct-to-home (DTH) platform which is subscription free.

Zee News channel, owned by Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL), which has newly been turned into a free-to-air (FTA) channel was the only one winning the DD Freedish’s slot during the recent e-auction round, which took place on 28 July.

“Most of the leading channels are available on Freedish, which is the reason we changed our strategy and shifted to FTA mode to increase our penetration”, said RK Arora, the chief executive officer at ZMCL.

According to him, Zee News will elevate its reach to about 80 million TV households with Freedish.  Three FTA channels will now be available on ZMCL, with Zee News joining India 24×7 and Zee Purvaiya, the Bihar-focused channel.