Cable TV
Hathway’s googly; comes up with new Star packaging
MUMBAI: A month after Star India’s reference interconnect offer (RIO) deals came into effect in the DAS areas, multi system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable & Datacom has come out with its new pricing and packaging system.
Hathway has been conducting meetings with operators in various areas, the last ones being in Aurangabad, Pune and Pimpri. As per cable operators, who were a part of the meetings, Hathway has said that it will be empowering and training the operators to run the business of collection from subscribers.
Four new packs have been introduced. The first is the ‘Basic Pack’ for Rs 230 that will, along with other channels, have seven Star channels. These are: Star Plus, Life OK, Star Gold, Movies OK, Channel V, NGC and Star Pravah, for Marathi regions and Star Jalsha in Bengal. This will depend on the stronghold of Hathway in the states.
The second pack is for Rs 289 and called ‘Popular Pack’. This will have, in addition to the above, a choice of one out of the two sports channels from Star Sports 1 or Star Sports 3. Both these channels show the same content in English and Hindi respectively.
The third pack will be for Rs 349 and will have Star Movies, Star World, Movies Action and FX while the last ‘Premium Pack’ for Rs 419 will consist of an addition of its other niche channels such as Fox Crime, Nat Geo Music, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People, Fox Life etc.
Regional channels such as Asianet, Asianet Suvarna and Star Vijay have been kept out of packs and will be available on a-la-carte while all of Star’s channels will be available on a-la-carte as well.
Hathway will embark on a big marketing campaign to inform viewers about this and viewers can immediately switch over to new packs. For now, the MSO is not disconnecting signals to its subscribers.
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.
