Cable TV
WGA & Congressman Cardenas oppose Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger
MUMBAI: Congressman Tony Cardenas (CA-29) added his voice to the growing list of public officials, consumer groups and businesses that are opposed to allowing Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable. During a briefing held at the headquarters of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and attended by representatives of legislative offices from across the L.A. region, Cardenas officially stated his opposition to the deal.
“Today I announce my strong opposition to the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger. I ask the FCC, the DOJ, and the California Public Utilities Commission to deny this merger because it is bad for consumers, will harm competition, will lead to less diverse content, more expensive cable and internet access, and will eliminate good jobs in California. If approved, the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger will drastically change the landscape for media and broadband internet service in America. The pending merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable will enable an increased market dominance that will have a particularly negative impact on diversity of content and minority communities,” said Cardenas.
“Mergers that increase the power of content gatekeepers do not serve the interests of consumers or creators. Comcast has already stated that if the merger is allowed it will save money by paying less for content. This means that programmers will have less money to invest in content, which means less creativity, less innovation and less product. This could translate into fewer jobs, including right here in Los Angeles. While approval of this deal once seemed an inevitable outcome, the issues raised here today and over the last year make clear that the appropriate action for state and federal regulators is to say no to the merger,” added WGAW president Chris Keyser.
Presentations given by the WGAW, The Greenlining Institute, Entravision Communications Corporation, Sports Fans Coalition, and Presente.org detailed the far-reaching effects the merger will have on consumers, independent programmers and content creators, diverse communities, sports fans, and businesses throughout the Southland. New research conducted by the WGAW concludes that should the merger take place, Comcast’s increased buyer power as a distributor of television and the Internet will lead to higher prices for consumers, fewer content choices and less diverse and innovative content. Virtually no one in the L.A. region will be left untouched by this mega-merger.
L.A. Consumers are almost certain to face higher prices for cable and Internet service, more restrictions on how they can access the content they want and worse customer service. Local consumers will have little choice but to accept this new reality because for 72 per cent of Los Angeles County residents living in Comcast’s proposed footprint, Comcast will be the only choice for high-speed broadband.
Latinos across the country and here in Los Angeles will be harmed if this merger is approved. Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable would allow it to reach more than 90 per cent of Latino households nationally and become the dominant pay TV provider in LA, the largest Latino media market. Comcast will have make or break power over programmers trying to reach this audience. In addition, the company’s higher prices will hit local Latino consumers even harder, because with a median income of $21,314, compared with $44,929 for Anglo-Americans, they make significantly less than their white counterparts.
Moreover, 78 per cent of African American residents and 73 per cent of Asian residents living in Comcast’s proposed LA County footprint will have no other choice for broadband service that offers speeds of 25 Mbps or faster.
Local sports fans can expect higher prices or less access to home team games if the merger is approved. Already, 70 per cent of Angelenos do not have access to the local Dodgers channel because of Time Warner Cable’s anticompetitive pricing policies. The problem will only get worse if Comcast takes over Time Warner Cable and Charter systems locally because the bigger the cable provider gets, the more it charges competitors for access.
The Creative Community will see Comcast increase its ability to pay less for programming and strangle the growth of online video, threatening the new “golden age of programming” we are currently living in.
Independent and Diverse Programmers will face a larger, vertically integrated distributor that controls 30 per cent of the pay TV market and 50 per cent of the high-speed broadband market, giving it tremendous bargaining power over programmers. For Latino-oriented independent programmers, the situation is even worse because Comcast owns several Spanish-language networks and has both the incentive and ability to limit content competition.
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.
