Cable TV
Jagdish Kumar Pillai quits Hathway; Rajan Gupta appointed as MD
MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited has accepted the resignation of MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar Pillai.
Pillai is moving on from the company w.e.f today, 25 November. He took over as the MD & CEO of Hathway in December 2012, and led the company’s growth through the digitisation phase establishing its position as one of the leading digital cable TV and broadband service providers in the country.
Hathway announced Rajan Gupta to be its new managing director.
Prior to the appointment, Gupta was serving as president of the Hathway Broadband business since 2014, leading the company’s aggressive foray into high-speed cable broadband services in the country. With a broadband subscriber base of close to 0.8 million and services reaching more than 3.7 million homes, Gupta is credited with establishing & building a profitable broadband business for Hathway, setting it way-ahead of other competing players. With most MSOs in the country expanding their business and entering the cable broadband space, Hathway has been a step ahead in offering cutting-edge broadband services under Rajan’s leadership with continued investments in high-speed technology such as Docsis 3.0 and GPON FTTH, providing 50 MBPS speed plans, constant upgradations in customer service and increasing market share.
Over 18 years of experience, he has handled various business leadership roles with Tata Teleservice, Hindustan Coca Cola and Asian Paints.
In his new role Gupta would be to build on Hathway’s leadership in broadband and video business and take Hathway to the next phase of strategic transformation of creating a profitable consumer centric organization by maximizing innovation, execution and collaboration.
In another major move, T.S. Panesar, current president of Hathways’ video business, has been elevated to the position of chief executive officer-video business.
Having joined the company in December 2014, Panesar is an industry veteran with two decades of leadership experience in the consumer durables and TV broadcasting industry having worked with leading brands like ESPN Star Sports, Star TV. Having multi-functional experience, Panesar waspart of the core management team that was instrumental in setting up the ESPN Star Sports brand in India and building its DTH business.He has been credited with bringing a transformational shift in the cable TV operations of the company, making it more transparent, systematic & process driven. Under Panesar’s leadership, Hathway has aggressively grown in DAS 3 markets having crossed 11 million digital subscribers and launched many breakthrough initiatives such as “Hathway Connect”, the state-of-the-art, innovative portal for LCOs that has been widely appreciated by the industry& LCO fraternity for increasing their revenue and reducing operational costs. In addition, he has also led the launch of new in-house channels, rebranding & repositioning the current stable to create a robust portfolio as well as leading the companys’ foray into Value Added Services (VAS) offering a premium customer experience.
Says Jagdish: I have been contemplating this for sometime. Finally, Viren (Raheja) agreed to my decision. I am taking time off just chilling with my family for the next few months before making my next move. I have enjoyed my stint at Hathway.
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.
