ITV

Category: People

  • Siblings bond on Raksha Bandhan

    Siblings bond on Raksha Bandhan

    For many it is a daily struggle – how to balance their daily routines between work and perosnal life. But there are occasions when even the wealthiest man, the most powerful CEO or politician has to forget the position his/her occupation has given him/her. When he/she is at home, the role they enact is simply that of a father or a mother or a son or a daughter and for those who are fortunate enough of a brother and a sister.

    Raksha Bandhan – a day that reminds brothers and sisters that they share a bond – for a lifetime. She ties a string on his wrist. She annoints his forehead with tikka, and does his pooja. The brother in turn promises to look after his sister, no matter what, and gives her a gift – and seeks her blesssing.  A moment that helps us connect and reminds us that we are human, that all is equal.

    On the eve of Raksha Bandhan, a pious festival, we take a look at some of the well-known brother-sister combinations in the industry. Over the years, they have created their own identities in the media and entertainment sector.  Whether it be broadcast, television, films or the government, these siblings have become powerhouses in their respective fields.

    On this special day, Indiantelevision.com features a few siblings in the media industry.

    Vandana Malik and Raghav Bahl

    The two together built an empire that recently shifted hands to another powerful person in the country. Indeed, brother sister duo Vandana Malik and Raghav Bahl gave their all to the Network 18 group in the span of two decades.

    In early 1990s when Raghav started producing shows for BBC including India Business Report, he roped in his sister Vandana to head operations from Mumbai. Vandana, a housewife,  knew zilch about the industry, took a bold step with her brother’s help and went on to be a core member of the group’s expansion in the years to come.

    Raghav stormed into the media industry with JVs with some of the big names across the world- Viacom, CNBC, CNN, Forbes, GS Home Shopping etc.

    Now with Network 18 being in the hands of one of India’s richest industrialists – Reliance Industries’ chairman Mukesh Ambani, Raghav has ventured into the hand held personalised news space while Vandana’s next venture is not yet known.

    Anurradha and Ravi Shankar Prasad

    She is the managing director of the BAG Network while her brother is the current Union Minister of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Anurradha Prasad and Ravi Shankar Prasad have both excelled in their fields, making their presence known wherever they go.

    While the sister is a power woman in the field of news and entertainment television, the brother is one of the country’s top leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party.

    Anurradha runs two TV channels, News 24 and E24 as well as a production house called BAG. Ravi helped establish Goa as the destination for holding the International Film Festival of India as well as led the Indian delegation to film festivals in Cannes, Venice and London.

    Ila Arun and Piyush Pandey

    The godfather of Indian advertising, Piyush Pandey, is brother of Ila Arun, the queen of Indian contemporary music. Born in Jaipur, both Piyush Pandey and Ila Arun are one of the most dynamic brother-sister duos in the media industry.

    While Ila, the singer who turned folk-pop into a craze is also a very talented writer, music director and actor, her ad-guru brother Piyush is Ogilvy & Mather India south Asia executive chairman and creative director. It was under his leadership O&M has become one of the largest advertising agencies in India. He has also penned a patriotic song ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ for the National Literacy Mission of India in 1988.

    And as Ila blends the rural and the urban traditions of India; Piyush brings the nation together through his addictive campaigns.

    Madhu Trehan and Aroon Purie

    The euphemism, two sides of the same coin, aptly suits the combination of brother sister duo Aroon Purie and Madhu Trehan. The Doon school educated Aroon is well known as the founder of the India Today group while Madhu is arguably one of India’s fiercest media critics today.

    Their father, the late Vidya Vilas Purie was a former film financer and owner of the Thompson Press who in 1975 launched a tabloid newspaper called India Today. Aroon and Madhu revived the tabloid into a fortnightly magazine initially targeting NRI’s.

    In 1977 when Madhu was pregnant she decided to move abroad to start a family. She handed over the magazine’s complete operations to her brother. When she returned to India in 1988, she launched Newstrack, a video news magazine and in 2012 she went on to launch Newslaundry a web portal that keeps a sharp check on the country’s media houses and people including those owned by her brother.

    Ekta and Tusshar Kapoor

    She is the queen of television.  Ekta Kapoor, who late into her teens was only known as Jeetendra’s daughter, is today the CEO of one of the finest production houses Balaji Telefilms in India. She was just 17 when she started working and since then, she has breathed, eaten and slept only television. Today, she also has a film production house – Balaji Motion Pictures – to her credit.

    Ekta shares a very strong bond with her brother Tusshar who is an actor. He has over 30 films under his belt. He is also the executive director of Balaji Motion Pictures.

    Nalini Singh and Arun Shourie

    They are the son and daughter of consumer rights activist, HD Shourie. Nalini Singh is a TV celebrity and senior Indian journalist who is known for her anchoring of the popular television show Ankhon Dekhi on Doordarshan. Her sibling, intrepid journalist Arun Shourie,is known for his writing in Indian Express during the emergency. He has now moved out of media to grace the hallowed corridors of power in New Delhi. He is a powerful politician, columnist and ex-Union Minister.

    Divya and Yogesh Radhakrishnan

    Known for always being on the two opposing ends of the table, Divya and Yogesh Radhakrishan are forces to be reckoned with in their respective fields. Divya set up her own specialty company, Helios Media for broadcasters after working in an agency model for over two decades. On the other hand, Yogesh, the former CEO of Prime Connect is now the director of Pioneer Channel Factory.

    Shavon Barua and Kaustav Niyogi

    She loves most things old world, fashion, travel off the map, her boys are her world and also happens to be the Havas Worldwide West + South India president. Shavon with over 15 years of experience has led major global brands like Pepsi, Nestle, Colgate, Palmolive and Lakme Lever (Unilever) at various agencies such as JWT, Publicis, Y&R, and SSC&B Lintas. Her brother is the Mad Man of the advertising fraternity. Kaustav Niyogi aka Kausti has worked with the big names like McCann Erikson, Rediffusion Y&R and Publicis as creative head. He is currently, busy directing Pooja Bhatt’s next film Cabaret.

  • Mansi Shrivastav bids adieu to Times Television Network

    Mansi Shrivastav bids adieu to Times Television Network

    MUMBAI: It was in April, this year, when Times Television Network English entertainment channels CEO Ajay Trigunayat called it a day. And, now, according to sources, the English entertainment channels content head Mansi Shrivastav too has put down her papers and is currently serving her notice period. Her responsbilities included looking after the programming of the two film channels Romedy Now and Movies Now.

     

    Sources also suggest that though she had resigned last month, she is expected to take a long break till  January next year.

     

    Even after repeated attempts, Shrivastav remained unavailable for comment.

     

    Meanwhile, sources from the channel say that with MK Anand taking over as TTN MD and CEO, the network is busy putting in a new system, which facilitates direct reporting to him.

     

    If sources are to be believed,  a few appointments will be announced soon for the English entertainment cluster of the network.

  • Romil Ramgarhia quits Zeel, joins BARC India

    Romil Ramgarhia quits Zeel, joins BARC India

    MUMBAI: Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has appointed Romil Ramgarhia as its chief business officer. This is a move to strengthen its core management team as the joint industry body moves closer to the launch of its services. In his new role, Ramgarhia will report to BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta.

     

    Ramgarhia brings with him more than 12 years of experience across media, telecom and manufacturing sector. In his last role, he was Zeel chief commercial officer. Before Zeel, he was also associated with Viacom18, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and ACC, in different capacities.

     

    Zeel MD and CEO and BARC chairman Punit Goenka said, “Romil has played a key role during his limited assignment at Zeel. It is unfortunate that he has quit the company, however I am confident that his rich experience will bring greater value to BARC India. As he now moves on to a new challenge in a new role and domain, I wish him luck for his continued success.”

     

    Dasgupta added, “BARC India is moving closer to launch. Romil has an excellent background in broadcast, in telecom and in other industries. He was already associated with BARC India as part of its commercial committee and hence is well initiated in the processes. With his great business acumen he will further strengthen the organisation.”

     

    Talking about his appointment, Ramgarhia said, “My assignment with Zeel and Viacom18 has been one of my most challenging as well as gratifying periods of my professional career. It is great to be a part of a start-up which is slated to be the biggest audience measurement system across the world.” 

  • Endemol India gets Ashok Vidyasagar as senior VP for south

    Endemol India gets Ashok Vidyasagar as senior VP for south

    MUMBAI: Endemol India is getting an expert hand to lead operations of the entire south India business in new senior vice president Ashok Vidyasagar. His mandate will be to focus on scripted business opportunities as well as exploit the non scripted catalog of Endemol in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

     

    Vidyasagar will be based out of Chennai and report to Endemol India COO (Television) Abhishek Rege. He has had nearly five years of experience in the media and entertainment industry and TV programming.

     

    Prior to this he was with Big Synergy Media as business director for south operations, Bates 141 as senior VP and general manager, Enfatico as country lead, group business director at DDB and account director at HTA Bangalore and JWT.

     

    Speaking on his appointment Rege said, “Regional markets, especially the southern markets, are fast-growing verticals for Endemol India.  We have always been focused on building regional franchises of our global shows especially in the south. In the past too we have seen great success with Deal or No Deal in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam and now most recently Bigg Boss Kannada has been a huge hit.  With Ashok leading the southern market, we hope to further expand and build more such ventures. We welcome him to the Endemol India team and look forward to benefiting from his talent and experience.”

     

    Ashok has a commerce background with a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration with additional studies completed under the Executive Education from IIM, Bangalore on Integrated Marketing Communications.

     

    “I am excited about my new role at Endemol India.  Endemol India, is one of India’s largest TV content companies with presence in television, film and digital content, and has in a short time, taken great strides in the south market most recently with the success of Bigg Boss in Kannada. I look forward to building its business down south and establishing new ventures while growing and driving forward existing business. Branded content and branded engagement in TV is huge business and other new media like digital, YouTube, cinema and mobile make interesting avenues for expanding the scope of content strategy and business. I would like to leverage my brand experience and work on content strategies for brands and channels in the south of India which is an exciting set of four markets. With the increasing percentage of ad spends of national brands in south, the possibilities are huge for branded engagement and content. Value and volume of new content in south India have shown impressive growth year on year. Hence, brands and channels are ready to make high investments for content resulting better ROI for them and therein lies the business opportunity for content,” said  Vidyasagar.

  • Prime Focus Technologies appoints Yuval Tori as EVP, EMEA

    Prime Focus Technologies appoints Yuval Tori as EVP, EMEA

    MUMBAI: Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology arm of Prime Focus, has appointed Yuval Tori as executive vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

     

    Based in London, Tori will be responsible for business operations in the region including business development, sales and client relationships. EMEA is one of the most promising markets for PFT with client relationships like Viacom, The Associated Press and Sony MSM, among others.

     

    “We at PFT strongly believe in our glocal approach – we think global and act local. Yuval brings with him strong technology leadership and local market insights which is critical both for our customers and our business. I believe his experience and leadership will ensure that we continue to grow our presence in the EMEA markets and successfully meet the needs of our customers”, said Prime Focus Technologies founder and CEO Ramki Sankaranarayanan .

     

    “I have seen PFT grow from strength to strength. Its strategic agenda of expanding outside of India is clear from its recent Dax acquisition. I feel that is just the beginning. I can confidently say that the EMEA market with its very diverse media universe and established content organizations offers unique opportunities for PFT. I am looking forward to meet the colleagues from the industry at IBC this year as a part of PFT,” said Tori.

     

    Tori, a former lawyer with specialisation in company law and torts, comes to PFT with more than 15 years of experience in media and entertainment industry. Before joining PFT, he was  with Pilat Media as sales VP where he focused on growing the company’s business in the EMEA markets. Prior to that, he spent seven years with Amdocs and Comverse where he successfully led sales, business development initiatives and managed alliances.

  • Sagarika Ghose to join Times of India as consulting editor

    Sagarika Ghose to join Times of India as consulting editor

    MUMBAI: A month after she submitted her official resignation at CNN-IBN, the former deputy editor of the channel Sagarika Ghose is all set to enter the field of print journalism. Ghose will soon join Times of India as its new consulting editor.

     

    Highly placed sources from the publication have confirmed the news that she will be joining later this month. She had started her career with Times of India in 1991. Since then she has worked at several publications including Outlook and The Indian Express before moving on to CNN-IBN along with husband and IBN18 editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai.

     

    Ghose had also received offers from the India Today group but it seems like she has decided to go with the leading daily of the country.

     

    In the message that she sent out just after her resignation, Ghose had said that she was leaving to try her hand at something  “a little more challenging and creative, explore new vistas in reportage and commentary after almost a quarter of a century in journalism, among them 9 fabulous years at CNN-IBN.”

     

    Both Ghose and Sardesai had gone on a month long leave just after Reliance Industries’ acquired Network 18 in late May and within a span of a few days, both of them resigned from the company.

  • Reliance Broadcast Network appoints Gurudutt Jakhmola as national sales head government-TV and radio

    Reliance Broadcast Network appoints Gurudutt Jakhmola as national sales head government-TV and radio

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network has appointed Gurudutt Jakhmola as  national sales head – government for its television and radio verticals. 

    Bringing in his extensive experience, Jakhmola will work closely with the COO Lavneesh Gupta in streamlining and structuring the government business. He will also be responsible in planning and optimising the government business team for maximum efficacy, as he analyses national and state government campaigns to be able to deliver optimally.

     

    With varied industry expertise, Jakhmola has worked with telecommunications major – Hutchison Essar for five years before taking on the role of national government lead with American IT giant – Hewlett-Packard, where he led the function for over nine years. 

    Having completed a Bachelors of Science in Bio-Medical, he went on to pursue an MBA in Information Technology and Marketing from GGSIP Delhi University.

     

    RBN COO Lavneesh Gupta said, “With this appointment, we further strengthened our leadership team as part of our strategic growth objective. Gurudutt brings with him a multitude of skills which we believe will inculcate strong and robust mechanisms and processes for the team and also create synergy within teams to cross leverage the best practices. Above all, we are certain that he will help elevate customer experience with our brand for the government.”

     

    Speaking of his new role at Reliance Broadcast Network, Jakhmola said, “I’m extremely delighted to come on-board Reliance Broadcast Network. The vision that the team at RBN has for the company is what drew me closer to taking up this opportunity. I’m certain that with my experience I’ll be able to contribute to a greater success for the company and help take the businesses there to a newer level.”

     

  • Colosceum gets a new CEO in Lalit Sharma

    Colosceum gets a new CEO in Lalit Sharma

    MUMBAI: Colosceum, which has seen a few senior exits in the past couple of years, has reasons to cheer.

     

    Lalit Sharma, who was part of the founding team with Ajit Andhare and Rajiv Lakshman, has been promoted to CEO. He was earlier working at the capacity of COO with the company.

     

    “Yes, I have taken charge from today and already have had three meetings, so far. So it’s business as usual,” says Sharma who plans to finish the existing workload before he can look at other expansion plans.

     

    “We are working on a number of shows right now. And once that’s done we will be venturing into two more verticals,” elaborates Sharma without revealing much about the two verticals. “It will take a couple of years for things to take shape,” he adds.

     

    The production house has shows like Roadies and Master Chef India to its credit.

     

    Prior to Colosceum, Sharma has worked with Star India for a decade for its operations department.

  • Big Magic appoints Uditanshu Mehta as creative director

    Big Magic appoints Uditanshu Mehta as creative director

    MUMBAI: Big Magic has found a new creative director in Uditanshu Mehta, who brings with him an extensive and impressive portfolio of work in the media and entertainment space. Mehta will be responsible for all the on-air programming elements on the channel and ensure engaging comedy content for audiences. In his position, Mehta will report to Reliance Broadcast Network CEO Tarun Katial.

     

    Backed with honours in Political Science from the Delhi University and a diploma in film making from FTII, Pune, Mehta comes with 16 years of diverse experience in the television and film industry which comprises leading media and production houses like Miditech, UTV and Sab TV. Leading the programming function as part of the core team at Sab, Mehta was instrumental in changing the channels positioning from an entertainment channel to a comedy channel.

     

    Katial said, “Uditanshu brings with him diverse experience and understands the pulse of audiences seeking comedy entertainment. We look forward to have him work closely with the team and lead the product to its next level of growth.”

     

    Speaking of his appointment, Mehta stated, “I’m looking forward to my new role. Nothing is more satisfying than to have audiences enjoy a television viewing experience layered with laughter. I am glad to come on board Big Magic – the brand that allows me expression in the genre that I love best – comedy.”

     

  • BBC Advertising gets two new sales heads

    BBC Advertising gets two new sales heads

    MUMBAI: UK’s pubcaster BBC has done some reshuffling for better revenue generation from one of its upcoming key markets-India. One such is the appointment of two new sales heads- Abhijeet Dhar and Siddharth Bhatnagar for BBC Advertising.

     

    Dhar was earlier BBC Advertising regional manager- News for north and east India while Bhatnagar was heading the same for west and south India. Both of them will handle sales for the network’s news platforms including television, online, mobile, apps, video on demand and Lonely Planet along with a team of seven others.

     

    In his new role, Dhar will handle sales for travel, IT, telecom, government, PSUs and corporate while Bhatnagar will look after auto and BFSI (Banking, financial services and insurance). They will report to BBC Worldwide sales director (news) for south Asia Taranjeet Singh who was elevated to the position in 2012 but was handling the sales for India as well.

     

    BBC is increasing its focus on India, which BBC World News CEO Jim Egan had highlighted in his visit late last year. It is also looking at a big thrust in the digital space in the country. In an earlier interview to indiantelevision.com Egan had said, “One thing particularly exciting about India is that in the other markets digital penetration is nearing saturation point but in India there is a lot of room for growth in the mobile sector and it is one of the biggest growth markets for mobile.”

     

    The sales revenue push will be for digital medium with a broad based clientele list including education and real estate. The broadcaster claims to have nearly two million visitors a month from India for its website out of which most of it is unique and exclusive.

     

    Dhar has been with BBC for six years. Prior to this, he was with Viacom 18 as senior business manager for Viacom Brand Solutions, Radio City and the Times of India. Bhatnagar started his career at BBC in 2010 before which he was with SET India as sales manager, UTV World Movies as regional head for north and west, Radio Mirchi and Am sales and marketing.