Cable TV
Hathway Cable to debut Divine during Ganesh Utsav
MUMBAI: DTH service providers have been providing spiritual services to their subscribers for quite some time now. As have cable operators and MSOs who switch on coverage of local poojas during religious festivals and periods.
Now here is national cable TV MSO Hathway Cable & Datacom that is all set to launch a spiritual channel come1 September during the festival of Lord Ganesh which is predominantly celebrated in Maharashtra.
Called Divine, it is to be available on channel 47 on its cable TV network nationally.
Divine will to operate throughout the year and will be focused on broadcasting live events around religious festivals and on licensed content. Hathway has a bank of licensed spiritual content, which will form the major programming content post-Ganpati Utsav.
“We have no restrictions on the kind of programmes we will telecast tomorrow ourselves. We intend to bring to viewers fine spiritual content,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom general manager- marketing & communications Akhil Rampal.
Divine is launching around Ganpati Utsav, therefore initially it will have round the clock live coverage of pandals from Mumbai and outside. Live aartis and darshans are going to be part of the programming strategy.
“We are attempting to re-brand spiritual content and innovate on how it conventionally is delivered to viewers,” adds Rampal.
Though not many advertisers have yet signed on to advertise on the channel, at the time of writing, the idea is to reach out to the community of regional local advertisers which are already on the cable TV network.
Hathway will be rolling out a campaign to push the channel around its launch. It hopes many viewers will tune in to listen to the shouts of Ganpati Bappa Morya.
It’s over to the elephant God to oblige.
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.
