Cable TV
Q3: Digitisation pushes up MSOs’ subscription revenue
MUMBAI: Transparency in subscriber numbers with the digitisation of cable TV services in 42 cities is translating into higher subscription revenues for multi-system operators.
The benefit of digitisation is still to fully reflect in revenues of MSOs as billing to cable TV subscribers is still to be completed in the 38 cities that were digitised in Phase II.
Digitisation has had an added impact on the MSOs financials. Their carriage or placement revenue earned from broadcasters is decreasing.
MSOs expect carriage revenue to rise as new channels get launched.
Carriage Revenue
Hathway Cable & Datacom’s income from placement of channels fell 14 per cent to Rs 73.6 crore in the third quarter ended 31 December, 2014. The share of placement revenue in Hathway Cable’s total revenues fell to 31 per cent in the third quarter from 41 per cent a year ago.
Den Networks too saw softening of its placement revenues to Rs 117.8 crore, down nearly 2 per cent from Rs 119.90 crore a quarter earlier. Den Network’s placement revenues a year ago are not available.
Subscription Revenues
Digitisation gains led Den Networks revenues to rise to Rs 105 crore in the third quarter, up 6 per cent from Rs 99.11 crore a quarter earlier.
The quarter-on-quarter increase in subscription revenues for Hathway Cable was sharper. Its subscription revenues rose to 74 per cent to Rs 119.1 crore in the third quarter from Rs 68.5 crore a quarter earlier.
Hathway Cable’s subscription revenues rose as it completed billing for a substantial percentage of its cable TV customers in the cities covered under the Phase II of digitisation. As a result, its average revenue per month per subscriber too has increased substantially, an analyst said.
Hathway Cable says with its focus on collections, the company has witnessed continued traction in the pace of subscription collections into January 2014.
SITI Cable Network saw its total revenues in the third quarter rise 42 per cent to Rs 177.3 crore from Rs 124.7 crore a year ago.
SITI Cable CEO V D Wadhwa says, “We gained further momentum in the third quarter of fiscal 2014.”
Direct-To-Home TV
Dish TV’s revenues rose 3% quarter on quarter to Rs 6,128 mn in the third quarter but its EBITDA fell 1.6% quarter on quarter to Rs 135.50 crore. The company’s operating profit was down as its content cost rose and selling, general and administrative expenses increased as it tapped benefits flowing from digitisation.
Dish TV added net 2,20,000 households in the third quarter taking its subscriber base to 11.2 million.
Analysts expect Dish TV to reap higher benefits of digitisation in Phase III and IV starting 1 October, 2014.
In the case of Bharti Airtel’s DTH business, the multiplier impact of increased customer additions and higher realisations during the quarter, pushed up revenues by 25.8 per cent to Rs 538.4 crore from Rs 428 crore a quarter earlier.
Leveraging economies of scale, EBITDA for the quarter increased to Rs 97 crore from Rs 14.7 crore a year earlier. Consequently, Airtel Digital TV’s EBIDTA margin improved significantly to 18.0 per cent in the third quarter from 3.4 per cent a year earlier.
During the current quarter, the company incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 110.90 crore in DTH services. The cash burn during the quarter at Rs 13.9 million was significantly lower Rs 120.40 crore a year ago.
Airtel DTH added 2,35,000 net subscribers in the third quarter to take its total subscriber base to 88,07,000. Its average revenue per user in the third quarter was Rs 207.
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.
