Cable TV
Maiden SCTE India Awards felicitates media & cable companies
NEW DELHI: The first SCTE India Awards for Technical Excellence and Innovation in digital cable and broadband awarded multiple media and cable companies for their Outstanding Contribution towards “Building a Digital India.”
Videocon d2h Limited, Network 18 Media & Investments Limited’s Rajat Nigam, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) Anupam Shrivastava were among the recipients of the Outstanding Contributions towards “Building a Digital India.”
Other recipients included National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology’s Ashwini Kumar Sharma, Gujarat Telelink’s Shaji Mathews, DEN Networks’ Sanjay Jain, WWIL, Cable Operators Federation of India president Roop Sharma, and Federation of Telangana MSOs.
SCTE was founded in 1945 in the United Kingdom and originally called ‘The Society of Relay Engineers.’ It became the ‘Society of Cable Television Engineers’ with the advent of cable television. In 1994, reflecting the changes in the industry, it adopted the name ‘Society of Cable Telecommunication Engineers.’ While retaining the well-known ‘SCTE’ brand name, it is now known as the ‘Society of Broadband Professionals.’
Awards were also given in other categories to 22 companies and individuals at the recent event organised by SCTE India. The event exclusively covered by Bloomberg TV India and run by SCTE India’s national secretary Rahul Nehra was inaugurated by the SCTE India team in the presence of Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra, and Cisco Systems MD Sanjay Kaul.
Other awards were:
Watch out 2016 “Excellence in Innovation”
• BlueTown
• FlashingPoints
• Harmonic Inc.
• Mann-India Technologies
• MediaGuru Consultants
Make in India- Make for the world
• Corpus Media Labs
• MyBox Technologies
• Technobile Systems
• Modern Communication & Broadcast Systems (MCBS)
• PKOnline Ventures
• Surbhi Satcom
• Rudraksha Technologies
• Magnaquest Technologies
The event also included a panel discussion with Sanjay Kaul of Cisco, Vivek Garg of Reliance DTH, Rajat Nigam of Network18, Sanjay Jain of DEN Networks, and SCTE India founder Col. Vinod C Khare among others.
Important topics addressed during the power panel included the ‘Risk of adopting a new ‘innovation’; advice for next-gen innovators; India overtaking the dragon in home grown innovation for CPE’S to begin with; and 4G=2G, DTH=CABLE=300Channels; and Broadband = <10percent of India.
There were two product launches along the sidelines of the awards, the first mobile cable wallet by Mimotech and the first loyalty reward for cable operators by Flashpoint India.
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.
