Cable TV
Cable association asks for subscriber end set top boxes
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has asked the central government to pass a legislation making it mandatory for conditional access set top boxes to be set up at the customer end to receive pay channels.
In a memorandum to I & B minister Sushma Swaraj, the NCTA has maintained that currently encrypted channels are decoded at the cable TV headend and are then distributed as free to air channels in the basic service. Having a CAS at the customer end would be an effective anti-piracy measure, as all locally originating content will have to pass through the CAS filter. According to the NCTA, Swaraj had, in a meeting on 30 August this year, agreed to pass an order making it mandatory for all encrypted channels to reach the willing and subscribing end customers only through a conditional access set top box.
The feature films screened through this mandatory CAS will generate huge revenues for the film industry, the NCTA has noted in its memorandum.
MUMBAI: When margins wobble, liquidity talks and in Q3 FY25-26, cash did most of the talking. Den Networks Limited closed the December quarter with consolidated revenue of Rs.251 crore, marginally higher than the previous quarter but down 4 per cent year-on-year, even as profitability stayed resilient on the back of strong cash reserves and disciplined cost control.
Subscription income softened to Rs.98 crore, slipping 3 per cent sequentially and 14 per cent from last year, while placement and marketing income offered some cheer, rising 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs.148 crore. Total costs climbed faster than revenue, up 7 per cent QoQ to Rs.238 crore, driven largely by higher content costs and operating expenses. As a result, EBITDA dropped sharply to Rs.13 crore from Rs.19 crore in Q2 and Rs.28 crore a year ago, pulling margins down to 5 per cent.
Yet, the bottom line refused to blink. Profit after tax stood at Rs.40 crore, up 15 per cent sequentially and only marginally lower than last year’s Rs.42 crore. A healthy Rs.57 crore in other income helped cushion operating pressure, keeping profit before tax at Rs.48 crore, broadly stable quarter-on-quarter despite the tougher cost environment.
The real headline-grabber, however, sits on the balance sheet. The company remains debt-free, with cash and cash equivalents swelling to Rs.3,279 crore as of December 31, 2025. Net worth rose to Rs.3,748 crore, while online collections accounted for 97 per cent of total receipts, underscoring strong cash discipline across operations, including subsidiaries.
In short, while Q3 showed signs of operating strain, the financial backbone remains solid. With zero gross debt, steady profits and a formidable cash war chest, the company enters the next quarter with flexibility firmly on its side proving that in uncertain markets, balance sheet strength can be the best growth strategy.
