Cable TV
Casbaa leads raids on rogue cable ops in Philippines
MUMBAI: The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has launched an intensive enforcement campaign against Philippines’ pirate pay-TV operators, starting with police raids on cable companies in Mindanao on 21 September, and in Metro Manila on 23 and 26 September.
“This is the first of a series of high-impact actions the industry is taking to highlight the seriousness of cable signal theft in the Philippines, especially for legitimate, law-abiding Filipino cable and satellite TV operators,” said Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies.
Casbaa is an industry-based advocacy group that promotes pay-TV services via cable, satellite, broadband and wireless video networks across the Asia-Pacific.
The recent Casbaa-instigated raids on renegade cable operators were undertaken in co-operation with the National Bureau of Investigation of the Philippines (NBI).
Casbaa said it had been conducting surveillance of the target companies for several months taking note of the re-transmission of pay-TV programming which had not been authorised by the channel providers or their legitimate distributors in the Philippines.
“In many cases unscrupulous operators steal the pay-TV signals and resell them for significant profit,” said Twiston Davies. “Our data shows aggregated industry losses in the Philippines for 2004 of $70 million and preliminary estimates for 2005 suggest that this figure has increased significantly.
Casbaa data showed 880,000 legitimate and 650,000 illegitimate cable and satellite TV subscribers in the Philippines in 2004. For 2005 the problem would appear to have worsened with an increase in the number of illegal cable connections and a drop in the number of legitimate subscriptions.
Casbaa noted that the target cable companies were stealing popular cable television channels such as CNN International, AXN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, ESPN, Star Sports, Star Movies, Star World, HBO, MTV and National Geographic Channel.
Casbaa is working closely with players in the local industry who use legitimate programming and government agencies such as the NTC and the Department of Trade and Industry – Intellectual Property Office to curb signal theft.
In pursuit of the Association’s agenda Casbaa recently staged a seminar in Bangkok with the Thai Department of Intellectual Property and supported a series of technical principles to protect content output from digital set-top boxes.
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.
