Cable TV
DD to formally launch DTH on 16 December
NEW DELHI: Doordarshan’s direct-to-home (DTH) service will formally be launched by prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh on 16 December at 6.30 pm in New Delhi.
DD Direct Plus, as the KU-band service is known, will initially offer 30 free-to-air television channels and 12 radio channels. Subscribers will not have to pay a monthly subscription fee as they are doing now to get their cable TV service. But they will have to invest around Rs 3,000-3,500 in a dish and a set-top box to receive the service.
Aaj Tak, Star Utsav, BBC, CNN, Sun TV, ETC Punjabi, Zee Music, Headlines Today, Smile TV, and Kairali TV are some of the private TV channels that will be on offer.
Despite a delay in the formal launch, DD Direct Plus has already sold over 200,000 set-top boxes. The target is to push the free service to a million subscribers by the end of 2005.
Dish TV, the other DTH service provider which is 20 per cent owned by Zee Telefilms, charges a monthly fee and claims to have a base of 160,000 subscribers. It offers, among others, the Zee-Turner bouquet and the ESPN and Star Sports channels. But Sony-Discovery and Star group of channels are not available on the Dish TV platform.
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.
