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Chennai cable ops say Govt’s digital STB figures faulty
MUMBAI: After cable operators from Kolkata, it‘s the turn of their counterparts in Chennai to dispute the digital television penetration figures given by the Ministry of Information and broadcasting (MIB).
The Chennai Metro Cable Operators Association (CMCOA) has written a letter to the Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni saying the government‘s claim that 69 per cent cable TV households in Chennai have been seeded with set-top boxes is incorrect.
According to CMCOA, the Chennai DAS area has four million cable television homes, but only 160,000 homes have been seeded with STBs. “You may call for latest SMS report of any pay channel billed with two existing MSOs Kal cables and Jak Communications,” CMCOA general secretry M R Srinivasan said in the letter.
CMCOA also said both the existing MSOs don‘t have enough STBs to seed.
“Considering the above facts kindly review the DAS implementation exclusive for Chennai after Task Force and Becil inspection in Chennai physically, Srinivasan added.
Earlier, Kolkata Cable & Broadband Operators Welfare Association (KCBOWA) had issued a rejoinder to the ministry’s claim. The KCBOWA had disputed the claim that STBs had been deployed in 60 per cent of the cable TV homes in Kolkata by mid-September, up from 20.67 per cent in June, saying the MSOs did not have adequate supply of STBs.
The MIB had on 28 September through a statement said that the digitisation penetration in the four metro cities was 73 per cent up from 68 per cent announced earlier.
Incidentally, the West Bengal government had last week urged the government to extend the digitisation deadline in Kolkata due to the Durga Puja festivities and unavailability of STBs.
The government had once earlier extended the digitisation deadline from 30 June to 31 October.
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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.
