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Mumbai leads with 95% digitisation
MUMBAI: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has revealed that 68 per cent of Cable TV Digitisation has already been achieved in the four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Only six weeks are now left for the complete switch over from analogue to digital delivery of television channels in the four metros for the first phase of digitisation.
City wise data shows that Mumbai leads the progress in digitisation with 95 per cent homes digitised followed by Kolkata with 67 per cent. In Delhi, 53 per cent of the cable homes have switched to digital and in Chennai, 49 per cent.
Taking into consideration that the TV penetration is about 80 per cent on an average in four metro cities, and there are 2.55 million DTH subscribers and 4.67 million Set Top Boxes have already been installed, the percentage of digitization in four metros is 68 per cent. This includes 20 per cent provision for multiple TVs in homes and TVs in offices, the MIB said in a statement.
The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act 2011 has made it mandatory for switch over of the existing Analogue Cable Television Network to Digital Addressable System (DAS) by December 2014 in the entire country in four phases. In the first phase, four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have to switch to digital cable by 31 October.
MIB said it has been constantly reviewing the preparedness of the industry for the Digital switch over. Installation of Set Top Boxes in Cable TV Homes is one of the most crucial pre-conditions for the Digital Switch over.
The review of the data has been done by taking into consideration the Census data of 2011 with respect to total households, TV penetration, households having television sets. The data has been further corroborated with the data received from the Multi System Operators and DTH operators.
According to 2011 census, there are 10.37 million households in four metro cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata & Chennai. TV penetration in four metros is 80 per cent as per census.
The I&B Ministry has also launched a publicity campaign in electronic and print media to take awareness to the doorsteps of people.
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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.
