Cable TV
Paul Anderson appointed BBC News’ Islamabad correspondent
NEW DELHI: Paul Anderson is to be the new Islamabad Correspondent for BBC News.
Anderson, currently a reporter on BBC World TV, is one of the BBC’s senior correspondents and has been a World affairs reporter for the last ten years, according to a statement from BBC.
Anderson gained much of his journalistic experience in the former Soviet Union and the Balkans. During his time as a correspondent in Moscow, the Ukraine and Belgrade, he covered the Chechen wars, the conflict in Macedonia and the decline and fall of Slobodan Milosevic. Since April 2002, Paul has been based in London as Europe correspondent for BBC TV’s World Today programme.
Paul will be joining the Islamabad Bureau in the New Year to replace Susannah Price, who after covering Pakistan for the last three years, is now moving to New York.
The BBC has been expanding its South Asia news operations over the last few months because of the growing interest in the region from its global audiences, the release says. This is driven, in part, by a surge in new audiences in the United States where BBC World TV is now in 86 per cent of American homes. BBC News in turn has started to build up its resources in the region even more with further expansion planned in the New Year.
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.
