Applications
Digitisation: Analogue cable homes in Kolkata continue to receive signals
MUMBAI: Kolkata remained largely unaffected by the digitisation deadline thanks to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Bannerjee‘s diktat to cable operators not to swtich off signals to analogue homes.
Siti Cable Kolkata Director Suresh Sethia said that the West Bengal government had told the operators against discontinuing signals to analogue homes as it feared that there would be chaos in the city since a large number of homes are yet to be digitised.
“All the channels are available to analogue subscribers,” he claimed. “The Chief Minister (Mamata Bannerjee) had clearly told cable operators that the signals should not be switched off, otherwise there would be law and order situation.”
As per the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2011, it is illegal to transmit TV signals to analogue homes after the sunset date. As per the law passed by the parliament, the country will switch to digital cable in phased manner by 31 December 2014.
The deadline for first phase of digitisation in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata ended on 31 October. While in Chennai the deadline was pushed to 5 November due to the Madras High Court order.
Sethia‘s claim was supported by the head of a rival MSO who did not wished to be identified, “Let‘s be practical, we are doing business in Kolkata and we can‘t go against state government‘s diktat. The state government is obviously concerned about the law and order situation if analogue homes go blank,” he said.
He claimed that only 50 per cent homes have been seeded with STBs in contrast to I&B ministry‘s latest figure of 85 per cent.
Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) which had earlier asserted that it will switch off signals to analogue homes was caught off-guard. Talking to Indiantelevision.com, IBF president Man Jit Singh had stated that it had set up teams to conduct raids with police in case there is a case of piracy.
“We have switched off signals to analogue cable. We are following the law of the land. I can‘t say more than that,” Singh said when asked to clarify on the Kolkata situation.
Singh also said that IBF was studying the ground situation as it is just the first day after the deadline.
The senior MSO executive quoted above asserted that none of the cable operators have gone against the state government‘s direction and analogue customers continued to receive all the channels.
“The analogue and digital homes are existing together for the time being,” the executive added. He remained non-commital when asked how long this arrangement would continue.
Sethia, however, asserted that the MSOs and LCOs are committed to digitisation. Their only demand was to extend digitisation deadline a demand that was rejected by the Union government.
“There is robust demand for STBs,” he asserted adding that the cable operators would continue to seed boxes.
What incentive will analogue customers have to install a STB if they are anyway getting all the channels on analogue cable?
“They know that this arrangement is only for the time being and eventually they have to switch to digital cable,” Sethia replied.
Applications
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.
