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MSOs earmark Rs 50 mn to jointly promote subsidised STBs
MUMBAI: Den Networks, Hathway Cable & Datacom, Incablenet, Digicable WWIL (Siti cable), has earmarked Rs 50 million to promote its subsidised set-top box (STB) offering in Mumbai and Delhi.
The MSO body had recently launched a promotional offer for consumers in Mumbai and Delhi to avail the STBs at a subsidised price of Rs 799.
MSO Alliance has already spent close to Rs 15 million on print ads in leading publications like Times of India, Hindustan Times, DNA, Economic Times, Navbharat Times and Maharashtra Times.
“We (MSO Alliance) will spend close to Rs 50 million to promote the offer. We have already spent Rs 15 million out of it. We have issued ads in several publications in Mumbai and Delhi,” Den Networks CEO and MSO Alliance secretary SN Sharma said.
The MSOs will revise the price of the STBs after 30 September in Mumbai and Delhi. MSO Alliance will also offer subsidised STBs in Kolkata in within 20 days.
“We are not launching the offer in Chennai since none of the MSO Alliance MSOs are present in the city,” Sharma added.
The MSO Alliance is also carrying out below-the-line activities like street plays. It is engaging Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) to do live demos to educate customers about the benefits of digitisation.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting revised the deadline for full digitisation of the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai to 31 October from the earlier deadline of 30 June to allow platforms and consumers more time to convert to digital.
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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.
