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InCablenet switches off pay channels on analogue cable
MUMBAI: Hinduja-owned InCablenet Tuesday switched off signals of pay channels to its analogue cable TV subscribers in Mumbai, ahead of the digitisation deadline.
The MSO, which did not participate with the genre-wise channel switch-offs earlier this month, decided that this would be a smart step to take by making consumers realise that they had to buy set top boxes (STBs) before 1 November.
InCablenet had a handicap in not making the pay channels available on analogue cable earlier as it did not have a content agreement with Media Pro Enterprise, the joint venture company that distributes Star, Zee and Turner channels among others.
“We switched off pay channels to our analogue cable subscribers yesterday. In any case, TV signals will go blank on analogue cable from 1 November. We wanted consumers to realise this before so that they would not be deprived of watching their popular programmes on 1 November just because they don‘t have STBs installed at their homes. We are seeing rapid movement of STBs after this,” said InCablenet CEO Nagesh Chhabria.
Leading MSOs such as Hathway Cable & Datacom and Den Networks had started switching off channels genre wise beginning with English movie channels on 10 October. This had the support of the broadcasters under the aegis of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF).
The Hindi movie channels were switched off from 15 October, followed by English, Hindi and business news channels on 18 October and Hindi GECs on 22 October.
However, MSOs who did not agree to the switch off continued to get these channels.
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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.
