Cable TV
CITV & CASBAA to organise 2006 China Sports TV Forum in Beijing
MUMBAI: The second eidtion of China International Sports Television Forum will be held on 24 August in Beijing.
The announcement was made by China International Television Corp (CITV) and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA).
According to an official release, New Definitions: The Sports TV Digital Revolution, the forum will be hosted by the State Administration of Radio, Film & Television (SARFT.
The forum will be co-organized by CASBAA with CITV, the commercial arm of the state broadcaster CCTV, in collaboration with CITV Sports Promotion Ltd Corporation (CITVSP).
CCTV-5 will be the media partner of the event. The sessions will cover sports television and economic development, sports branding and sponsorship for China, as well as new media opportunities and the lessons learned from the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. The day will wrap-up with a high-powered CEO panel looking at the future of sports television production and HDTV.
“This is a uniquely exciting time for sports broadcasting in China in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing games”, said CITV president Li Jian.
China has made great progress to lay the foundations of a modern sports television market that can be a major force for economic change and industry progress. In a rapidly evolving broadcast market, this forum provides a rare opportunity to examine the best business models and technologies internationally that can be brought to the China market. ”
“The China International Sports TV Forum has already established itself as the pre-eminent event for China’s burgeoning sports television industry”, said CASBAA chairman and PricewaterhouseCoopers Entertainment and Media Practice Asia Pacific leader Marcel Fenez.
The speaker line-up for the one-day conference at the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing includes CEOs and representatives from companies and organizations in Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe.
Participants will include CCTV, Beijing Olympic Broadcasting (BoB), the Beijing Olympic Committee Organizing Group (BOCOG) and representatives of national Chinese and European sports bodies, along with global sports TV networks and sports management teams. Other speakers and delegates will be drawn from the wireless, broadband and HDTV sectors.
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.
