Cable TV
Star Movies adds half an hour of pre-show to Oscars coverage
MUMBAI: The biggest awards show in the entertainment industry the 78th annual Academy Awards takes place early in the morning on 6 March. Star Movies will add half an hour of pre show coverage to the event.
The action kicks off early Monday morning at 5:30 am. The channel will have its representatives on the red carpet for an hour getting sound bytes from the nominees as they walk the red carpet while fans scream themselves hoarse. There will also be a behind the scenes look at what it takes to put together an event of this magnitude.
Then the official Academy countdown happens at 6:30 am where US broadcaster ABC’s anchors talk to the stars. The main show kicks off at 7 am with host Jon Stewart. It should finish by 11 am. There will be a repeat at 8 pm.
The big concern for the Academy though is that none of the Best Picture nominees benefitted after their list was made public. The weekend after the nominations had been announced Munich’s box office dropped a massive 53 per cent. The other nominees including favourite Brokeback Mountain and Capote had drops of at least 29 per cent.
What this means is that there is not much interest in movies that have been nominated. Generally viewership for the Academy Awards is good if the films in question do well at the box office. Ratings were strong when blockbusters like Titanic and The Lord Of the Rings triumphed. The films nominated for the main awards including picture, the acting categories and script are all niche and serious apart from Walk The Line and Pride And Prejudice.
The other unknown factor is Jon Stewart. Stewart’s satirical style works well for his news show The Daily Show. For the Oscars though he will need to tone down at least to some extent. The best hosts are those like Billy Crystal who work within Hollywood and who are in awe of it just like the viewers.
As far as who will win is concerned the gay western Brokeback Mountain should win for best picture. While the explosive drama about racism in Los Angeles Crash has fans, it is not likely to cause an upset. If it does then it will be the biggest upset in the history of the Academy Awards. Brokeback Mountain’s director Ang Lee who failed to win five years ago for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon will not go empty handed this time around.
Best Actor should go to Phillip Seymour Hoffman whose portrayal of writer Truman Capote needs to be seen to be believed. Reese Witherspoon should win for Best Actress playing country singer June Carter who married country music legend Johnny Cash.
Rachel Weiz who proved that she has the acting chops to match her looks in The Constant Gardener is the favourite in the supporting actress category. Reacting to her nomination she said, “My journey with ‘The Constant Gardener’ has been an extraordinary and rewarding one, made possible by a great director, Fernando Meirelles, and a brilliant leading man, Ralph Fiennes. And now to be an Academy Award nominee, is the greatest honour for me. I am deeply grateful to the members of the Academy for my nomination.”
George Clooney has been nominated three times. He co-wrote the script for Best Picture nominee Good Night And Good Luck which is about how news anchor Edward Murrow took on Senator McCarthy in the 1950s when he was on his communist witchhunt. However if Clooney wins for anything it will be for his portrayal of a CIA agent in Syriana, which is about America’s thirst for oil in the Middle East.
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.
