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Sun TV to gain after distribution deal with Arasu Cable
MUMBAI: The intervention of the Madras High Court has prompted the Tamil Nadu state-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation to stitch a deal with Sun TV Network to carry all its channels, ending months of negotiations that had affected the leading regional broadcaster‘s viewership and subscription revenues.
Arasu Cable TV managing director D. Vivekananda told Indiantelevision.com that it was a one-year deal. “We will have all the 37 Sun network channels on our cable network,” he added, without disclosing the financial details of the deal.
The blackout of the Sun network channels had impacted the broadcaster‘s financial performance. For the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal, Sun TV Network‘s net profit had fallen 23.7 per cent to Rs 1.59 billion while its net sales declined to Rs 4.27 billion. Sun will be announcing its fiscal first-quarter results on 3 August.
Arasu Cable was incorporated under Companies Act, 1956 on 4 October 2007 but was dormant after DMK chief M Karunanidhi patched up with his nephew, Kalanithi Maran. It was later recharged by AIADMK chief Jayalalitha to break Sun Group-owned Sumangali‘s cable monopoly in the state.
Arasu offers 148 channels on its cable TV network, including 50 pay channels and 98 free-to-air channels. It has 5.5 million subscribers, said Vivekananda.
Sun TV shares closed at Rs 264, up 1.97 per cent, after touching an intraday high of Rs 277.45.
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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.
