Cable TV
Hinduja Ventures appoints Ashok Mansukhani as MD; net profit remains flat
MUMBAI: Hinduja Ventures Ltd (HVL) whole-time director Ashok Mansukhani has been elevated as the managing director of the company for two years from 30 April 2018 to 29 April 2020. Mansukhani completes his existing term as whole-time director on 29 April.
The appointment was effected at the meeting of the board of directors today. Mansukhani was appointed as the MD and CEO of Hinduja Media Group in February 2017 following Tony D’Silva’s exit.
Mansukhani is a postgraduate from Delhi University and completed his masters in English literature from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, and his LLB from K C Law College, Bombay University.
After a distinguished career in Central Government as an Indian Revenue Service Officer for 22 years, he joined the Hinduja Group in 1996 and has handled various senior responsibilities in the Group, in media and Corporate sphere. Mansukhani has been past president of the Multi System Operator Alliance (MSO Alliance) representing all leading MSOs in the country.
The Board of HVL at its meeting held today approved un-audited standalone financial results for the quarter and nine months ended 31 December 2017.
HVL, on a standalone basis, reported total income of Rs 169.12 crore for the nine months ended 31 December 2017 as against Rs 173.91 crore for the nine months ended 31 December 2016.
Net profit for the nine-month period in 2017 stood at Rs 88.80 crore as against Rs 88.39 crore during the corresponding period in 2016, an increase of 0.47 per cent.
For the quarter ended 31 December 2017, total income of the company stood at Rs 64.88 crore compared with Rs 53.58 crore for the quarter ended 30 September 2017 and Rs 52.79 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2016.
Net profit for the quarter ended 31 December 2017 stood at Rs 33.76 crore as against Rs 29.55 crore for the quarter ended 30 September 2017 and Rs 35.99 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2016.
IndusInd Media & Communication Ltd (IMCL), a Hinduja Group subsidiary, continues to make inroads into India’s rural areas through its head-end-in-the-sky (HITS) platform. IMCL is the only digital platform operator (DPO) to cover all 29 states and 4 union territories. This is due to major penetration in the past 12 months utilising NXT Digital’s HITS platform.
The company feels that there is scope for deployment for DPO to an additional 30 million homes in the rural universe of 99 million homes. Another 20 million homes await power to households and will begin to watch television in the next three years.
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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.
