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.
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.
