Cable TV
Chrome Data rolls out massive rural habits report, cable TV included
MUMBAI: The Pankaj Krishna-led Chrome Data Analytics & Media today announced the completion of their proprietary Rural Establishment Survey (RES), an unprecedented study covering consumer behaviour and habits in over 200,000 Indian villages, representing over 300 million Indians.
The survey, which was done over a period of 15 months, involved the entire Chrome Data infrastructure of over 650 field executive, 450 telecalling staff and the 150 strong analytics team, together speaking over 22 languages to map the length and breadth of the country. According to Chrome Data, one in a 100 households covering the sample area were reached.
Respondents were made to fill out a detailed questionnaire which included consumer habits, family income and lifestyle patterns among other things.
All the products in the naional consumer classification survey (NCCS), cable penetration, electricity, power cut data, political preferences, subscriber attached to each platform by village, are some of the data points which have been captured by the rural establishment report.
The survey holds direct actionables for brands and agencies to help target growth regions
Broadcasters, for example can know the exact subscriber base of cable networks in the villages covered. Along with this, it also gives the number of active subscribers of each cable network. The company believes RES will add immense value to business strategies for broadcasters, agencies and advertisers.
Speaking on the product, Chrome Data CEO Pankaj Krishna: “It has been a humbling experience to be a part of a study of such a massive scale, and I’m proud of the team for the amount of efforts they’ve put in over the past 15 months. Even we weren’t prepared for some of the findings – for broadcasters for example, there are pockets of rural areas that have seen Freedish penetration spiral up to almost a hundred percent.”
Chrome RES, he added, will be key for any business planning to capitalize on data driven strategies to exploit the 74% rural population.
Pricing for the rural establishment report varies between Rs 35 lakh to Rs 1.8 crore depending on the number genres and channels that are subscribing to to it.
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.
