Cable TV
Inside SITI Networks’ effort to grapple with COVID-19 crisis
MUMBAI: All of a sudden, our normal life has gone for a toss with the mandatory stay-at-home in place in order to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. As all physical options of communication, entertainment are now out of reach, traditional TV, online content, and the internet have emerged as a boon. Government has also declared cable TV and broadband a part of essential services during this time.
SITI Network’s business continuity plan:
Quickly grasping this situation and the importance of maintaining its services, as an effort to keep customers at home, SITI Networks has been working with its partners and governmental agencies to ensure that “the show must go on”. Its employees have upped the ante and are striving to ensure that customers’ connectivity remains intact so that they can remain at home. Multiple teams of technically trained and dedicated personnel are continuously working at the grassroots level to deal with any inconvenience to ensure that digital TV and broadband run smoothly for SITI’s 45 million customers. All this is happening despite not having full support from local administrations.
SITI even released a best practice guide for its customers and partners on the SITI Information Channel 999 on its network. This guide informs customers on how to keep their connectivity running while keeping social distancing. SITI has also made available the option of Quick Recharge on its website www.sitinetworks.com, for the convenience of the customers. Through this, customers can recharge their account by sitting at home and without contacting LCO. The MSO has shared an educational video also with its consumers.
SITI Networks CEO Anil Malhotra said: “We are in this fight, and have to ensure that our customers stay at home. In the words of our Dr Subhash Chandra, this will be our national service. In this battle, SITI employees strive to keep people stay indoors by providing them entertainment and information of their choice and preferences at home. The entire team is engaged to run the services smoothly. Our teams are maintaining the chain by their sheer willpower so that the Corona virus chain can be broken”.
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.
