Cable TV
Vijay TV’s ‘Airtel Super Singer’ announces 20 selected finalists from Coimbatore
The ultimate search for the best voice of Tamilnadu “Airtel Super Singer” was going on through out Tamilnadu for the past few weeks starting from Coimbatore on 01 April 2006. Special arrangements were made to facilitate the contestants to record their voice in the video booth that was located on various parts of the city. The show was launched on Vijay on 28th April, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm. Last week featured the Coimbatore episode wherein 20 selected finalists were announced. They are A.M. Suresh, A.C. Rohini, V. Shilpa, N. Vignesh, V. Prasanna, Meera Krishnan, N. Padmavathy, S. Kuzhandhaivelu, K. Raghavendharan, Febin Pareed Pillai, M. Ramu, Vidya Venkatakrishnan, Shruthi Rajan, Kovai Balamithran. Out of which two chennai participants and Guwahati, Salem Kerala participants who have come and took part in the Coimbatore audition was selected, namely, Swathi Sridharan, R. Vijay Krishnan, Maya from Chennai, Rupankar Thakur from Guwahati, D. Shivanandhni from Salem and Shenaaz from Kerala.
It is to be mentioned that 65 years old Kovai Balamithran competed with all the youngsters and has been selected in the contest. He was very confident that he would be one among the 20 participants when he attended the audition.
The second audition was held at Chennai on 16th April and the final audition at Madurai on 23rd April. Thousands of talented singers took part in the 3 level auditions at all these places. The chennai audition episode will be aired on Vijay TV on 05 and 06 May at 8 pm.
The promotion for the programme began nearly a month ago and thousands of singers have sent in their CDs and tapes and also through mobile phone dialing an Airtel number. Besides this, the participants also registered their voice through the mobile vans, which was organized by the channel through the main parts of the city. This is was the first time a contest of this magnitude was being conducted by Vijay TV. Renowned playback singers were part of the show as the judges at the auditions. Starting with Malaysia Vasudevan, Mahati, SP. Shailaja, Malathi, Music director Iman, Dr. Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram and Jensi were judges for this ultimate voice hunt show. Popular singer Chinmayi would anchor the show.
The selected 60 participants (20 from each zone) will undergo various rounds of tests in Chennai at a specially created set. The main juries of judges are Srinivas, Anuradha Sriram and Unni Krishnan who would have the toughest task of eliminating the talented 60 singers. Each zonal participant is going to be put to test and the number will be brought down to 30, the shooting of this will happen in the next few days. Airtel Super singer airs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm on Vijay TV.
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.
