Cable TV
Rob Lowe, Mary-Louise Parker, Marlee Matlin, Timothy Busfield and Annabeth Gish
MUMBAI: The final episodes of US broadcaster NBC’s presidential drama The West Wing will see many familiar faces return to see the Emmy Award-winning series off.
Rob Lowe, Mary-Louise Parker, Marlee Matlin, Timothy Busfield and Annabeth Gish among others will return to the drama to reprise their characters in one or more of the final episodes – but all will not specifically appear in the finale on 14 May.
Lowe will come back to serve as a senior political official. The season-long presidential race between Senator Adam Vinick (Alan Alda) and Congressman Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) will be decided before Lowe’s return.
From the drama’s inception in 1999 until 2003, Lowe portrayed Seaborn, a deputy communications director who left to run for Congress in California. For his performance as Seaborn, he earned an Emmy nomination in 2001.
Oscar winner Matlin reprises polling expert Joey Lucas. Busfield comes back as intense reporter Danny Concannon; and Gish will portray Elizabeth Bartlet Westin, the married daughter of President Bartlet (Martin Sheen).
The West Wing holds the record for most Emmys won by a series in a single season (its first). Other awards include a Peabody Award for excellence in Television, five Golden Globe nominations and one Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series, and three Television Critics Association Awards.
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.
