Cable TV
Reliance eyes last mile via cable ops
MUMBAI: Reliance Infocomm has indicated to cable TV operators that it wants to ally with them to deliver digital interactive television and value-added broadband services to customer homes.
The launch date of Netway – Reliance’s triple play service – is still not definite, though the company is targeting mid-2005. “We have certain issues to sort out,” Reliance Infocomm chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani tells indiantelevision.com.
Reliance Infocomm is still grappling with the last mile problem. But the company seems to be befriending local cable operators. By putting up a stall at SCaT India 2004, which is an annual exhibition on cable TV hardware, Reliance may well have been sending out these very signals to the operators. Also, Ambani was present today to inaugurate the three-day exhibition.
“We are showing cable operators the products that we can offer. This is the first step,” says Reliance Infocomm president of Enterprise Prakash C Bajpai.
There is no decision taken yet whether Reliance should go through the local operators. “If we go through cable operators, it will be a faster route. Getting to the last mile ourselves will take time,” says Bajpai. “We are, however, weighing the various models,” he clarifies. This could also mean a mix of working with local operators and having its own last mile.
A Delhi cable operator, however, feels Reliance is not out to kill the last mile operators. “We have been given assurances that they will work with us and we can earn incremental revenues through their value-added services,” says head of Cable Operators Federation of India Roop Sharma.
On the content front, Reliance Infocomm is yet to finalise on what business model it should adopt. The debate is on whether the company should acquire movies or go for a revenue-share model with the content suppliers.
Reliance will take time to launch its triple play service. But when it does, the battle will hot up. “Multi system operators have to gear up as they are the likely targets,” says the founder-promoter of an independent cable network.
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.
