Cable TV
CATV Act expected to clear RS tomorrow
Now that the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2002 has been passed by the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament), there is one final step it has to take before being signed into law – clear the Rajya Sabha (Upper House).
The amendments to the Cable TV Regulations Act, 1995, which will pave the way for addressability on Indian cable systems through conditional access, is likely to be cleared in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow. Current indications are that though the bill has not been listed in tomorrow’s agenda, the government will force its discussion in the Upper House along with another bill. The effort is clearly to get the bill passed tomorrow itself or information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj’s dogged efforts to push the bill through would get negated.
The amendments to the Act were passed in the Lok Sabha yesterday through a voice vote after a marathon discussion which lasted over three hours.
The bill was to have been discussed in the Rajya Sabha today but could not be taken up as the House was busy discussing other issues like a co-operative bank scam which has recently surfaced and most of the early afternoon was taken up by finance minister Yashwant Sinha replying to various queries on this issue.
However, government officials point out that even in the unlikely event that the bill is not discussed in the RS tomorrow, proponents of CAS need not lose heart.
“Since the Bill has been okayed by the Lok Sabha, the government can push through the legislative change through an ordinance after Parliament takes a break,” a senior information and broadcasting official told indiantelevison.com.
Government officials also opine that effecting policy changes through ordinance has been resorted to in the past by various governments.
Incidentally, before the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act, 1995 was formally enacted into a law, the then government of the day had passed a late night ordinance to regulate cable networks.
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.
