Cable TV
Bihar govt trebles cable TV entertainment tax to Rs 50
MUMBAI: Even as the government is working on subsuming entertainment and other incidental taxes into a goods and service tax (GST) which would be around 18 per cent, cable TV subscribers in Bihar are about to be delivered a blow to their wallets. A couple of days ago, the state’s cabinet stamped its approval on a proposal to hike entertainment tax from Rs 15 to Rs 50 per subscriber.
That’s a 200-plus per cent escalation, and it places the state amongst the top entertainment tax-levying states in India. According to earlier statistics released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Bihar accounts for about three per cent of the cable TV subscribers in India. That means the state has anywhere between two million and three million subs.
According to data released by cable TV tracking firm Chrome Data, Bihar had achieved only 68 per cent digitization by February 2016. Additionally, TV viewers in the state had been opting for DTH, rather than cable with the DTH subscriber base, jumping 32 per cent in just one month, following the imposition of digitization. Estimates are that only the city of Patna has a 400,000 cable TV subscribers.
Currently, TV viewers’ cable bills are anywhere between Rs 250 and Rs 350 per month for their cable TV connection. With the Rs 50 entertainment tax levy, cable TV MSOs are expecting these to rise to between Rs 300 and Rs 400.
The Times of India has stated that the Bihar government is taking this step to plug the revenue gap that has sprung up following the imposition of prohibition. It says the government had a shortfall of Rs 5,000 crore. Additionally, the commercial taxes department has been set a tax collection target of Rs 22,000 crore for fiscal 2016-2017. And, of course, cable TV is an easy target.
However, with disclosures from the fragmented cable TV trade being as they are, observers wonder whether the tax hike will yield the desired results.
Cable TV
Hathway Cable appoints Gurjeev Singh Kapoor as CEO
Leadership change comes as cable TV faces shrinking subscriber base and modest earnings pressure
MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom has tapped industry veteran Gurjeev Singh Kapoor as chief executive officer, marking a leadership pivot at a time when India’s cable television business is under mounting strain.
Kapoor will take over from Tavinderjit Singh Panesar, who is set to retire in August after a long innings with the company. Panesar, chief executive since 2023, has held multiple leadership roles at Hathway, including his latest stint beginning in 2022.
Kapoor brings more than three decades of experience in media and entertainment. He most recently led distribution at The Walt Disney Company’s Star India business, now part of JioStar. His career spans television distribution and affiliate partnerships, with stints at Sony Pictures Networks India, Discovery Communications and Zee Entertainment.
Panesar, with over three decades in the industry, has worked across strategic planning, distribution and business development in media, broadcasting and manufacturing. His past associations include ESPN Star Sports, Star India, Apollo Tyres and JK Industries.
The transition lands as the cable sector grapples with structural disruption. Traditional operators are losing ground to streaming platforms, while telecom and broadband players tighten the squeeze with bundled offerings.
An EY report estimates India’s pay-TV base could shrink by a further 30 to 40 million households by 2030, taking the total down to 71 to 81 million. The slide follows a loss of nearly 40 million homes between 2018 and 2024, a contraction that has already wiped out more than 37,000 jobs in the local cable operator ecosystem.
Hathway’s numbers reflect the strain. The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 93 crore for FY25, down from Rs 99 crore a year earlier. Revenue inched up to Rs 2,040 crore from Rs 1,981 crore. As of December 2025, it had about 4.7 million cable TV subscribers and roughly 1.02 million broadband users.
Kapoor steps in with a familiar brief but a shrinking playbook. In a market where viewers are cutting cords faster than companies can reinvent them, the new chief executive inherits a business fighting to stay plugged in.
