Prasar Bharati has awarded five television channels carriage slots on DD FreeDish through its mid-year e-auctions to use vacant capacity on the free-to-air DTH platform.  According to e4m, the slots have been granted for a two-month period from February 1 to March 31, 2026, to fill vacant capacity on the free-to-air DTH platform.  In the MPEG-2 category, GTC Punjabi and Movieplex were allotted slots. Meanwhile, North East Live, FM News, and K News India received slots under the MPEG-4 category.  The mid-year auctions were held outside the annual cycle and followed a pro-rata mechanism to utilise unused capacity. 

Image edited by Dinesh Raj M   With the annual Union Budget just around the corner, newsrooms across the country are trying to outdo each other in understanding/analysing the Budget and put out the best presentation for their readers. The Budget-day editions are often the most sought-after despite the onslaught of online media and social media interpretations. Ironically, there has really been nothing for journalists to look forward to in any Union Budget of the past several years. As an industry, media gets a share of the Union Budget every year and expectations are high this year too. Industry leaders say they are looking for structural policy corrections that can arrest years of economic erosion, according to Chehneet Kaur for e4m. She adds that across legacy media, the consensus is clear that the next phase of sustainability will depend less on government spending and more on rationalising taxation, fixing pricing frameworks and easing access to capital. Concerns for p

Senior media professional Chandra Mohan, who has spent decades working across leading English and Malayalam newspapers, has received the Arts Icon Puraskaram. The honour was conferred by ARTS Hyderabad, a well-known cultural and literary body representing the Malayalee community in the city. The award was handed over by celebrated author Zachariah, a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, at Ravindra Bharathi as part of the Golden Cat Awards function. The ceremony was formally opened by Dr T T Sreekumar, professor at the English and Foreign Languages University. The Arts Icon recognition marks Chandra Mohan’s 55 years of service in English and Malayalam journalism, a profession he continues to be associated with. In addition to his journalistic work, he has held the position of Public Relations Officer under four Chief Ministers of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and has also been honoured with a Special Commendation from the President of India. Speakers at the event include

Senior journalist Vijay Rawat has joined NDTV as Executive Editor, where he will head the network’s Hindi website. In his new role, Rawat will report to Santosh Kumar, Senior Managing Editor, NDTV (Hindi Digital), and will focus on strengthening NDTV’s Hindi digital editorial operations, e4m reported. Rawat recently exited the India Today Group after nearly a decade, most recently serving as Executive Editor of aajtak.in. With more than 25 years of experience across print and digital journalism, Rawat has previously worked with Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Haribhoomi, and Network18’s Hindi digital platform.

Senior journalist Palki Sharma is set to exit her role as Managing Editor at Firstpost as she prepares to start an independent venture, according to multiple media reports. The announcement was made during an internal town hall held for Firstpost staff on Thursday evening, people familiar with the matter said. Addressing employees, Network18 Chief Content Officer Santosh Menon said Sharma will continue with the organisation until March despite stepping away from her current position. He also announced that Binoy Prabhakar, who earlier served as Chief Content Officer at Hindustan Times Digital, has been appointed to the same role at Firstpost. Meanwhile, Rakesh Rai, presently Executive Editor at Firstpost, is expected to assume the role of Managing Editor at News18.com, as reported by Newslaundry.

Lodestar UM, an Omnicom Media India agency, has won the integrated media mandate for Amazon Music after a competitive review process, according to social samosa.    The agency will handle full-funnel media activation in India, covering integrated media planning and execution.   The mandate will be delivered using Lodestar UM’s Full Color Media framework, which combines data, technology, and creative planning.  

Stephen Fenech believes TechGuide has become a respected and well-trusted brand for people of all ages and levels of expertise, as he celebrates his masthead’s 15th anniversary. “Ninety-nine per cent of people aren’t tech experts, and that's a bigger audience for me to aim at, and that's exactly what I set out to do”, Fenech told Influencing.  “To this day, I still write my content in plain English and explain every acronym and really spell it out for people, so it can be easily understood what’s going on, and people can understand my reviews, so when they make their own decisions, they can make informed decisions.” TechGuide reached the 15-year milestone last Saturday, and Fenech said that over those years, he’s become pretty happy with how the publication has fared.  It's been quite the journey, he says, adding he has no regrets about starting TechGuide back in January 2011. Fenech added it was his father who