Four news channels buy DD Freedish slots despite boycott calls

New Delhi: Just two days after NBF president Arnab Goswami and NBDA president Avinash Pandey signed a letter sent to I&B minister Anurag Thakur stating that the news channels will not participate in the e-auction for DD Freedish slots, a few news broadcasters started bidding on Thursday.

However, several other news channels have stuck to the boycott calls made by their respective industry associations.

Goswami, who was the signatory of the letter to the minister, bought a slot for Rs 16.55 crore for his Hindi news channel Republic Bharat.

The other three winners were News18 India, TV9 Bharatvarsh and Zee News who shelled out Rs 19.85 crore, Rs 14.55 crore and Rs 15.5 crore, respectively. 

The first round of e-auction for Bucket C reserved for Hindi news channels is witnessing fierce bidding.

The base price for Bucket C is Rs 7 crore.

In a letter to the I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, NBDA and NBF Tuesday said that their members would stay away from the e-auction until the resolution of the concerns regarding the revised process/methodology.