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ESPN Star Sports signs up Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV for HD feed
MUMBAI: In what could mark a serious push for high definition technology in the country, ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has signed deals with Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV to bring to their viewers the football World Cup and Wimbledon tennis grand slam in HD mode.
ESS had initially done a deal with Dish TV, India‘s leading direct-to-home (DTH) operator.
Earlier, Tata Sky’s move to obtain high definition feed of the soccer World Cup from ESS was turned down by the Delhi High Court. “Tata Sky is not yet ready to provide HD channels as the company lacked the infrastructure that is required,” the court said. This basically forced Tata Sky to launch their HD service in a hurry.
ESPN Software India MD RC Venkateish told Indiantelevision.com the deal is just for these two events.
“Subsequently, we will decide on what to do with our other properties like the Champions Twenty20 League. If there is sufficient demand, we will offer it in high definition. It allows the operators to offer top notch sports content,” he said.
DTH operators are set for a cut-throat price war on the HD front with Tata Sky offering the set-top box at Rs 2599. Now with sports broadcaster ESS widening its HD content, they will need to push their HD services more aggressively to expand the market for this premium product.
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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.
