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BSkyB revenue grows by 10 per cent to ?2.9 billion
MUMBAI: UK pay TV operator BSkyB has posted a revenue of ?2.9 billion for the first six months ended December 2009, up 10 per cent from the earlier year.
Net profit surged to ?256 million compared to ?166 million in the same part of the previous fiscal.
BSkyB also absorbed the cost of strong demand to deliver four per cent growth in operating profit to ?401 million. It made strong financial progress in broadband and telephony and its free cash flow was up five per cent to ?290 million.
In the second quarter, BSkyB had 172,000 net additions taking the total customer base to 9.7 million. Now 18 per cent of customers take TV, broadband and telephony.
Says BSkyB CEO Jeremy Darroch, “It has been another good quarter in what remains a tough environment, with more customers joining Sky and strong demand across our entire product range. The standout performance came in high definition TV with almost half a million customers
choosing Sky+HD for our best home entertainment service.”
While the economic outlook remains uncertain, BSkyB expects to be in a “good position” in 2010 as it continues to focus on a consistent set of priorities. In addition to customer growth and take-up of additional products, it will seek to extend and build on leadership position in high definition and seek to grow its share in home communications.
“The company will continue to invest sensibly where it sees long-term advantage and stay disciplined on costs,” says Darroch.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
