Cable TV
Karunanidhi kicks off colour TV scheme in Tamil Nadu
MUMBAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi has unveiled the free Colour TV Scheme for the poor. Fulfilling his party’s poll promise, the DMK president distributed 25,245 colour TV sets worth about Rs 90 million were given to the residents of Samathuvapuram (a colony of all communities and creeds) at Thundalkazhani village in Padappai in Kanchipuram district.
The CM has been quoted in media reports as saying that, Rs 7.5 billion had already been allocated in the state budget for distributing 25 lakh colour TV sets. He said the scheme would be implemented in phases as it was not possible to distribute all the 2.5 million sets in a single day.
Karunanidhi’s cabinet colleagues would begin the distribution of the colour TVs in other districts, barring Madurai where the code of conduct had come into force for the 11 October 11 Assembly byelections, on 16 September.
Finance minister K Anbazhagan is scheduled to launch the scheme in Madurai, while local administration minister M K Stalin would distribute the TV sets at Enathur Samathuvapuram, also in Kancheepuram District. Electricity minister Arcot N Veerasamy would hand over the TVs to those living in slum clearance board tenements in Pursawalkam and Kotturpuram in the city.
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.
