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.
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.
