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”.
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.
