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.
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.
