Cable TV
Seven mfrs making set top boxes locally, MSOs adopt iCAS
NEW DELHI: Even as most high courts extended the deadline for phase III of digital addressable system citing shortage of set top boxes, a total of seven local manufacturers are now producing STB.
This figure is almost double compared to the details given during the last meeting of the DAS Task Force on 16 February 2016.
The 15th Task Force meeting on 30 May was informed that seeding of about 41 million (4.1 crore) STBs had been completed.
However according to a representative of Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), there was a lull in the market and no orders had been received in the recent past.
The representative said seven indigenous STB manufacturers had taken Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS) licenses and five out of them are in the process of implementing iCAS in their STBs.
He said 22 MSOs’ had placed orders for iCAS-based STBs. Twelve MSOs’ had deployed iCAS by 15 February, the 14th meeting had been told.
Meanwhile, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology is planning a meeting with the operators and stakeholders on 24 June 2016.
In the meeting on 16 February 2016 which was the first after the deadline for phase III covering all urban areas, it was claimed that the seeding of STBs by multi system operators increased from 6.91 million to 12.43 million between 31 December 2015 and 15 February 2016.
The Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS) had been developed by DeITY and will be initially available to indigenous STB manufacturers for three years at a nominal fee of $ 0.5 per STB. .
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.
