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Hathway Q1 net loss widens on digitisation
Mumbai: Increase in expenses for digitisation in the four metros and rising cost of borrowings has weighed down profitability of Hathway Cable & Datacom Ltd, a multi-system operator (MSO) with a national footprint.
Mumbai-based Hathway reported a loss of Rs 159 million in the first quarter ended June 30, 2012, 71 per cent more than in the previous quarter ended March 31, 2012 and 30 per cent higher than a year earlier. Loss of Rs 46 million on account of fluctuation in foreign exchange rates enlarged the loss in the first quarter.
HDFC Securities, in a research note, said increase in interest cost due to higher inventory of set-top-boxes (STBs) and increase in interest rates caused widening of Hathway‘s loss in the first quarter.
The company‘s finance cost in the first quarter was Rs 133.38 million, up 18 per cent from the previous quarter and 39 per cent from a year earlier.
In Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata analog mode of delivery of television channels to homes will be phased out from November 1. Hathway has a total of 2.1 million subscribers in the four metros and has so far 1.1 million subscribers have been provided with set-top-boxes (STBs).
Hathway expects to install STBs at homes of another 0.7-0.9 million subscribers by the end of October 2012, according to a research note by Sunidhi Securities & Finance Ltd. Hathway also has 0.41 million broadband subscribers, with 7,000 added in the first quarter.
The company‘s revenues at Rs 1.36 billion in the first quarter were flat compared to the previous quarter and up 12 per cent from a year earlier, on the back of higher fee on activation of STBs and addition of broadband subscribers.
Its EBITDA in the first quarter at Rs 238 million was 2 per cent higher than in the previous quarter and up 25 per cent from a year earlier. Its EBITDA margins in the first quarter were 17.5 per cent, 29 basis points more than in the previous quarter and 187 basis points higher than a year earlier.
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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.
