ITV

Category: People

  • Anup Vishwanathan joins TTN as marketing head English Entertainment cluster

    Anup Vishwanathan joins TTN as marketing head English Entertainment cluster

    MUMBAI:  As the Times Television Network (TTN) strengthens its senior management team, it has announced the appointment of Anup Vishwanathan as the marketing head of the English Entertainment cluster which includes channels such as Movies Now and Romedy Now.

     

    Speaking on his new role Vishwanathan said he was really happy to be an integral part of the TTN team. “I have had some wonderful clients and colleagues who have enriched me with knowledge and experience with every interaction I have had with them. That’s going to stand in good stead for me. And finally, I have managed to sync my work and my passion- which has always been movies,” he added.

     

    He will join TTN from 24 November 2014. Based in Mumbai, he will work closely with the business and leadership teams at TTN and will report directly to TTN senior vice-president and head of English Entertainment cluster Vivek Srivastava.

     

    Srivastava commented, “Anup’s expertise in working with a cross section of brands, along with his deep understanding of media businesses will add great value to our business. I would like to welcome him on-board and I look forward to having a wonderful working experience.”

     

    Vishwanathan moves to TTN after a stint at Leo Burnett which started in 2006. He has worked on brands like HDFC Life, Tata Capital, McDonalds, Sony Entertainment Television, Sony Pix, AXN. At Sony Entertainment Television, he has worked on the reality show Kaun Banega Crorepati. He is also the winner recipient of Leo Burnett Global Star Reacher award.

     

  • RBNL inducts new talent for growth of TV business

    RBNL inducts new talent for growth of TV business

     MUMBAI: Big Magic, the flagship entertainment channel from Reliance Broadcast Network has roped in Sahil Kangotra as its business head and Shalini Gupta as chief marketing officer for the television networks: Big Magic, Big Magic Ganga, Big Thrill and Big Magic International.

    In their respective functions, Kangotra and Gupta will report to RBNL COO Lavneesh Gupta and will be the torchbearers, leading the television team through its next level of growth. Having successfully created radio network 92.7 Big FM, Reliance Broadcast Network is poised to drive growth and profitability for its TV business.

     An IIM Lucknow alumnus, Kangotra joins RBNL from ICICI Lombard GIC where the last position held was in the capacity of corporate solutions group VP. With over 12 years of work experience Kangotr’s expertise lies in building growth through effective trouble shooting and leading through people management.

    Kangotra said, “I am excited about my foray into the broadcasting space and there could be no better Company than Reliance Broadcast Network, which is at the hub of the media evolution. I look forward to complementing the team’s strengths and adding value, to create optimal results for the business.”

    Gupta, an MBA in marketing, with her extensive experience of over 15 years, will be responsible for driving market share and viewership along with creating brand saliency and buzz for the television network. She has been associated with brands/organisations as Bharti Airtel, Loop (BPL) Mobile, Parle Agro and Grey Worldwide across various roles.

    Gupta stated, “I look forward to driving growth and higher market share for the television network and carve a distinct brand identity within the huge media clutter. Along with the leadership innovating team, I endeavour to create another success story for the television business.”

    The COO said, “Shalini and Sahil each bring on board extensive and diverse experience which will further augment our brand’s growth and performance. It is our immense pleasure to announce their association with our television business, and we are confident that their proficiency will enable us to lead us to our next level of growth.”

     

  • Bloomberg TV India appoints Amol Maheshwari as national sales head

    Bloomberg TV India appoints Amol Maheshwari as national sales head

    MUMBAI:  One of the country’s leading English business news channels, Bloomberg TV India, has appointed Amol Maheshwari as its national sales head. He will be directly reporting to Bloomberg TV India COO Lavneesh Gupta.

    Maheshwari will be in charge of driving the business development for the premium business news channel across India. As part of his new portfolio, he will also be leading a team of regional heads and account directors who service a mix of corporates across PSUs, private companies, MNC segments and government business.

    With over a decade’s experience in the banking and financial services industry, Maheshwari started his career in 2004 at HDFC Life as a management trainee and later progressed as a corporate account manager. Post HDFC Life, he worked with HSBC Bank as vice president and channel sales manager for mid-market segment proposition, HSBC Advance. Before joining Bloomberg, Maheshwari was handling corporate sales and worksite marketing for Bajaj Allianz Life.

     Commenting on the new appointment, Gupta said, “Amol, with his experience and deep understanding of the television business, will surely add tremendous value to the channel. I am confident that he will be a prodigious asset to the organisation and will help us reach the next level through his keen understanding of the business.”

    Maheshwari’s key focus areas at Bloomberg TV India would be to nurture a strong business team and to significantly enhance sales revenue for the channel in FY 15, while improving Bloomberg TV’s penetration of client’s coverage across industries and dominate in business news space.

    Talking about his new role, Maheshwari said, “It is a great pleasure to take new responsibility at Bloomberg TV India, as it offers a value proposition of being the First, Fastest, Factual, Final and Futuristic on News Reporting to viewers. This opportunity at Bloomberg TV India is a spectacular one from my personal and professional growth perspective and I look forward to constantly innovate and create a unique & rewarding experience for clients.”

    Maheshwari is pursuing his senior management programme in leadership and management from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He has done his B.Com (Hons) in 2001 from Sri Venkateswara College (University of Delhi), PGDM in marketing & finance from Symbiosis Center for Management & HRD in 2004. He is also a certified executive coach from International Coach Federation.

     

  • Mike Pandey re-elected as president of IDPA

    Mike Pandey re-elected as president of IDPA

    NEW DELHI: Renowned filmmaker Mike Pandey has been elected for a second term as president of the Indian Documentary Producers Association, the oldest organisation of documentary filmmakers in the country.

     

    While he was initially elected for a term of two years during his first tenure, the executive committee later decided to extend the term to four years.

     Thus, Pandey will be president till 2018.

     

     Priti Chandriani has been elected to general secretary, succeeding Sanskar Desai who did not contest.

     

     Renowned filmmaker Jahnu Barua, whom Pandey had succeeded in his first time, continues as permanent member.

     

     While Abdul Fazili is joint secretary, Tilak Vij and Usha Deshpande are vice presidents and Gautam Grover is treasurer.

     

     Other members of the executive committee are are Lygia Mathews, Veena Bakshi, Satinder Mohan, Ashish Choudhary, and Dev Avinash Taneja.

  • TS Panesar quits Star India as EVP Distribution

    TS Panesar quits Star India as EVP Distribution

    MUMBAI: Star India’s EVP for distribution TS Panesar has decided to move on to the company sources told indiantelevision.com.

    He is currently serving his notice period and will move out of the company at the end of the month.

    Panesar had been entrusted with the responsibility of handling distribution for national DTH and digital addressable systems (DAS) earlier this year when the JV between Star and Zee- MediaPro was broken.

    He was earlier ESPN Software India VP for affiliate sales.

    Industry sources hinted that Panesar could be moving to Discovery Networks.

     

  • Sharlton Menezes gets elevated as Zee Studio and Zee Café content head

    Sharlton Menezes gets elevated as Zee Studio and Zee Café content head

    MUMBAI:  Zee Studio, which recently saw a revamp, has now seen a big appointment at the top executive level of the channel.  Zee Studio and Zee Café’s Sharlton Menezes who is the AVP and head of marketing has now been entrusted with an additional portfolio.  Menezes has now been promoted as the content head for both the channel. In his new role, he will be responsible for content strategy, acquisition along with marketing for both the channels.

    He replaces Sonal Khanduja who was heading programming and acquisitions for the two channels for nearly 10 years. Khanduja has now joined Times Television Network as programming head for the English cluster (Movies Now and Romedy Now). Khanduja took charge today.

    Menezes had joined Zee Entertainment in 2008 as senior marketing manager.  He holds a Masters in Management Studies degree from University of Mumbai. While Zee Café is an English GEC, Zee studio is the English movie channel from the Zee stable.

     

  • Zeel gets a new chief commercial officer in Monojit Indra

    Zeel gets a new chief commercial officer in Monojit Indra

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) is on a hiring spree. The company has not only created a new position of chief business officer (CBO) and appointed Sunil Buch to head it, but also got a new chief commercial officer (CCO) in Monojit Indra on board.

     

    The position was vacant after Romil Ramgarhia had quit Zee in the month of August 2014. Indra joined the company on 3 November and will report to Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka. Sources close to the development confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com.

     

    An MBA student in rural management, prior to joining Zee, he has headed various roles at Marico. He had joined the company in 2001 as manager-buying and left as Marico International head supply chain and new country development after successful stint of 13 years. He has also worked at other companies like Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals, Clause International and AgriNet Solutions.

     

    When contacted, Zee spokespersons were unavailable for comment.

  • Sunil Buch joins Zeel as chief business officer

    Sunil Buch joins Zeel as chief business officer

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) has appointed Sunil Buch as its new chief business officer (CBO) to drive the business deliverables to the company.

     

    He joined the company on 3 November and will report to Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka. Buch will be responsible for effective and quick implementation of prioritised strategic initiatives across the organisation.

     

    Speaking on his appointment, Goenka said, “We are extremely happy to have Sunil join us as the chief business officer. As we work towards accomplishment of our Vision 2020 goals, we want to undertake enterprise-wide strategic initiatives that focus on not only enhancing business performance but also bring in operational excellence and efficiency across the network. We are confident that Sunil’s high degree of consumer connect, his creativity and communication skills coupled with his sharp business focus and ability to manage a wide spectrum will enable us to gain significant competitive advantage.”

     

    Commenting on his new venture, Buch said “I look forward to joining Zee at this exciting juncture. The path ahead is challenging yet filled with immense opportunity and I hope to contribute positively to this growth.”

     

    Sunil has over two decades of experience in functional and general management across various sectors including FMCG, advertising, media and entertainment and telecom retail. Prior to joining Zee, he was the business head – Reliance Own Retail at Reliance Communications. He has also worked at Colgate – Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, Leo Burnett and Marico.

  • Vivek Law quits, Siddharth Zarabi takes charge at Bloomberg TV India

    Vivek Law quits, Siddharth Zarabi takes charge at Bloomberg TV India

    MUMBAI: Bloomberg TV India today announced the appointment of Siddharth Zarabi as executive editor. Zarabi has an overall experience of 17 years in print and TV business journalism, and he will assume responsibilities from Vivek Law effective from 1 November 2014.

     

    Zarabi in his prior assignment was national news editor of CNBC-TV18, with the responsibility of driving reporting teams nationally, apart from leading special news programming initiatives on the channel. He was earlier the economic policy editor and Delhi bureau chief for CNBC-TV18. Prior to his employment with CNBC TV18, he has worked with Business Standard, Hindustan Times and The Indian Express.

     

    Commenting on his transition, Law said, “It is exactly four years (yes time flies!), since I came to this organisation with the mandate to head the editorial operations. I am extremely grateful to the shareholders for having reposed the faith in me to lead this fabulous team. These have been the four most amazing years of my 21 year journalistic career. We have together created an outstanding business channel. I have no doubt in my mind that this great product will only grow and grow in the coming months and years.”

     

    Assuming charge of his new responsibilities, Zarabi said, “I am extremely excited to take on this new role as executive editor of Bloomberg TV India. I am confident that with the credible platform already created by Vivek and the entire editorial team, and with the strong support of Bloomberg, the world’s most influential news organisation, the channel and its related products will further strengthen their leadership position in India, and deliver increasing value to their target Influencer audience.”

     

    Zarabi will be responsible to lead the editorial function across all verticals, and he will work closely with the entire team to further enhance Bloomberg TV India’s strong and influential platform for coverage of all aspects of the Indian economy, banking and finance, trade and industry, capital and FX markets, etc.

     

    Law has decided to pursue his personal interests. 

  • 24 Ghanta to get HT’s Anirban Choudhary as editor

    24 Ghanta to get HT’s Anirban Choudhary as editor

    KOLKATA: Zee Entertainment Enterprises owned 24×7 Bengali news channel, 24 Ghanta, is all set to get on board veteran journalist and Hindustan Times deputy resident editor (RE) Anirban Choudhury, as editor.

     

    “Bye bye Hindustan Times…. shall remain ever grateful to you…forever,” he wrote on a social networking site.

     

    Choudhury, agreed to the development, but refused to reveal the date of his joining. “I would like to finish off all my assignments at HT before moving on to 24 Ghanta,” he said.

     

    In his new role, he will be looking after the overall operations of the channel. “Bengal is not just about politics. We would like to tell a story of a common man,” he said about his plans for the channel.

     

     “Zee has spent a huge amount on this channel, but still something was missing. The channel could not make its mark even after recruiting so many senior journalists. Hope Choudhury’s appointment works as a miracle,” said an official from the channel.

     

     “There is an urgent need to revamp the whole structure and the schedule of the channel. With Anirban at the helm of affairs, we hope that the channel would get back to winning ways. He was responsible for creating a market for HT in the eastern region and hope he would do the same for 24 Ghanta,” said an industry expert.

     

    24 Ghanta was launched in the year 2006 and it covers local, national as well as international news.