Cable TV
Al Jazeera International ropes in two former CNN journalists Lucia Newman & Mariana Sanchez
MUMBAI: The yet to be launched 24-hour international English news and current affairs channel — Al Jazeera International, headquartered in Doha, has announced the appointments of two renowned journalists Lucia Newman and Mariana Sanchez for the Buenos Aires, Argentina bureau and the Caracas, Venezuela bureau.
Lucia Newman joins the channel from CNN, where she was most recently CNN’s Havana bureau chief and correspondent, since the bureau was opened in 1997. Prior to her Havana posting, Newman was CNN’s senior correspondent in Latin America, and bureau chief in Mexico during the 1993 to1997, Chile from 1989 to1993, Nicaragua from 1985 to1989 and Panama in 1987.
Mariana Sanchez, a former news anchor for Panamericana Television, ATV and stringer for the Los Angeles Times in Peru, has freelanced extensively for many international news organisations, including The Wall Street Journal Americas, CNN Espanol, UNIVISION and Agence France Presse, among others.
In a statement issued, Washington DC bureau chief Will Stebbins said, “In English language broadcasting, there is no more experienced journalist in Latin America than Lucia Newman, which is why we are overjoyed that she has agreed to come on board.”
As for Mariana Sanchez, she “has a unique perspective that is both local and international, gained from news anchoring in her native Peru, and covering major events from Kosovo to East Timor, which makes her the perfect candidate for the way in which we plan to cover Latin America,” says Stebbins.
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.
