ITV

Category: People

  • Dwijendra Parashar joins Star Sports as marketing manager-cricket

    Dwijendra Parashar joins Star Sports as marketing manager-cricket

    Mumbai: Dwijendra Parashar has joined Star Sports as marketing manager for cricket, as per his LinkedIn profile.

    Parashar is a marketing professional, who was previously associated with Pidilite Industries Ltd for over six years. He joined Pidilite as branch manager in 2016 and scaled his way up to the position of head of field marketing in 2017. He moved on from the company as brand manager (Fevistik).

    “Today, as I identify myself as something other than a Pidilitian, as I step out of the organisation that has nurtured me over the last 6.5 years, I can express nothing but gratitude for my leaders who have gone above and beyond to aid my development and teach me all I know today,” Parashar said in a LinkedIn post.

    He is an alumnus of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.

  • Zee Entertainment hires Amrit Thomas as chief data officer

    Zee Entertainment hires Amrit Thomas as chief data officer

    Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprises on Tuesday appointed Amrit Thomas as chief data officer to strengthen its overall capabilities in data analytics across all aspects of decision making.

    In this new role, Thomas will report into Zee president- technology and data Nitin Mittal and will be based out of the Technology & Innovation Centre in Bengaluru.

    “Digital transformation has been a key focus area for the company, and it is committed to building robust and innovative capabilities that redefine the entertainment industry experience for viewers across formats and screens,” said Zee in a statement. “Amrit’s appointment is in line with this approach, aiming to build out the central data & analytics function, democratising information and through that, sharply improving the company’s capability to anticipate, understand and meet the needs of its consumers and customers, thereby creating repeatable, insight-led revenue models.”

    A business and marketing professional, Thomas carries experience in driving transformation across categories like personal products, skincare, beverages, and sports across emerging and developed markets.

    In his previous stint, he was the CEO, strategic advisor, and investor for a retail-tech start-up. He was also associated with Diageo for 13 years, where he was responsible for the digital and marketing transformation of the organization. His previous stints include Hindustan Unilever, where he led the western region personal product sales team and later, the beverages business of the Company. He also spearheaded a direct-to-consumer start-up venture setting up and scaling phone-commerce home delivery service.

    Thomas is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

  • Goldmines Telefilms names Joy Chakraborthy as CEO-broadcasting

    Goldmines Telefilms names Joy Chakraborthy as CEO-broadcasting

    Mumbai: Goldmines Telefilms has brought Joy Chakraborthy on board as CEO-broadcasting.

    With 27 years in the media industry, Chakraborthy is armed with experience in print, television, radio and digital businesses, with ad sales and revenue generation being core to his career.

    “We welcome Joy into the Goldmines family. He comes with vast experience across genres and media platforms in the country,” said Goldmines Telefilms director Manish Shah. “We look forward to working with him, making the most of his experience as our mega plans unfold.”

    Chakraborthy previously served as CEO of Enterr10 Media, TV Today Network, and Forbes India. Prior to that, he was Zee Group executive director, Times of India Group director, TV18 News Network president and Star TV executive vice president.

    “I am looking forward to working with Manish Shah. Having interacted with him over time, I can see his clarity, focus and drive towards the business goals. Manish’s vision and genre understanding as a promoter is a vital add-on,” said  Joy Chakraborthy. “Goldmines plans to introduce more channels and we will be talking about them as plans rollout. As I like to work on business challenges, I see my role at Goldmines as one such exciting challenge to take on.”

    Chakraborthy is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School and has graduated from National Defence Academy.

  • Disney Star onboards George Cherian as corporate communications & CSR head

    Disney Star onboards George Cherian as corporate communications & CSR head

    Mumbai: Disney Star on Monday announced the appointment of George Cherian as head of corporate communications and corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the market. Cherian will report to The Walt Disney Company and Star India country manager and president K Madhavan and will join the India leadership team that drives Disney Star businesses in the country, said the statement.

    In this role, Cherian will be responsible for overseeing all strategic communications and CSR efforts for the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED) business in the country which includes television network, streaming platform, and studios. 

    “We are at an exciting juncture of our growth story and strongly believe that communication is one of the key drivers in establishing a brand’s stature,” said K Madhavan. “As the country’s leading media, entertainment and digital network, we have a strong and compelling story to tell. We are delighted to welcome George to the Disney Star team to help us communicate our vision, strategy and commitment to the Indian market, and to the various external stakeholders.” 

    Cherian brings to bear over 25 years of experience as a financial journalist and a communications professional. He previously served at Deutsche Bank Group India as director and head of group communications where he led all brand and communications activities for the bank’s various businesses in the country. Prior to that, he headed communications for Barclays in the Asia Pacific region. As a journalist, Cherian was a part of the founding teams of Bloomberg TV India and ET Now and he also worked with The Economic Times.

    “The combination of an industry that is on the cusp of exponential growth and a brand that is trusted and respected by millions of people the world over, could not have made for a more convincing case for me to join Disney Star. I look forward to the opportunity of building the Disney Star brands in India and working with some of the most talented professionals in this industry,” said George Cherian on his new assignment.

  • DB Corp names Rahul Namjoshi as CEO of My FM

    DB Corp names Rahul Namjoshi as CEO of My FM

    Mumbai: Publishing house DB Corp has promoted Rahul Namjoshi to the position of chief executive officer (CEO) of its radio division – My FM. According to Namjoshi’s LinkedIn profile, he took over as CEO of the radio division in October.

    Namjoshi has been serving as the chief operating officer (COO) of the radio division since May 2019. As COO, he was responsible for improving the radio division’s profitability. He managed a team of 500+ people spread over 30 stations and eight corporate markets.

    Namjoshi’s elevation was confirmed by DB Corp president Harrish M Bhatia, who served as the CEO of DB Corp’s radio division for almost 10 years till August 2017. “Dreams do come true – yes I am happy to share that one of my dreams came true few days back. Rahul Namjoshi is promoted as CEO of MY FM. I am so happy to see progress that Rahul has made,” said Bhatia in a recently shared post on social media.

    “When I took over in 2007 I had Rahul in my team, and I remember sometime around 2012/2013 in one of the meetings I had expressed my desire that it is my dream that one of our team members take over from me when I move on instead of a new person coming from outside. Finally, this dream has come true. It’s very important for any organisation which has great culture, growing, good processes and systems in place that somebody from within the system should take over to take it forward,” he added.

    Prior to his promotion as COO, Namjoshi was My FM’s business head for over one year since November 2017. He joined My FM in March 2007 as regional head – Gujarat following which he was elevated as national vorporate sales head in July 2011.

    DB Corp forayed into the radio business with 94.3 My FM in 2006. The radio station sets up its network across 30 tier 2 and 3 cities across seven Indian states, building on the lineage of Bhaskar Group.

  • Debkumar Dasgupta moves on from IndiaCast

    Debkumar Dasgupta moves on from IndiaCast

    Mumbai: IndiaCast Media Syndication head (Middle East-Africa) Debkumar Dasgupta has moved on from the group after a long stint of over two decades. He will be in the company till 31 December.

    Dasgupta was currently posted in Dubai as senior VP and business head- syndication, Middle East and Africa of IndiaCast- the international and digital distribution arm of Viacom18 and TV18.

    He joined the group 24 years ago, and initially managed the domestic distribution of the channel. But his role expanded post the launch of Colors, when he was appointed to manage the Asia Pacific channel distribution and global content sales and syndication. The syndication business recorded significant growth during the subsequent decade. Later on, he was elevated to manage the channel business including subscription, ad sales, syndication in the Middle East-Africa.

  • Sooraj Bhalla to step down as founder & CEO of Mates

    Sooraj Bhalla to step down as founder & CEO of Mates

    Mumbai: Mates founder and CEO Sooraj Bhalla has announced his decision to step down from his position. Under his leadership, the entertainment specialist unit of media agency Madison World emerged as a prominent name in the industry. 

    Bhalla played a significant role in building the branded content and content marketing advertising vertical to its leadership position. His last day at Mates is 31 December.

    “So far, my focus has been to work towards driving impact for clients and touch an emotive chord with consumers with the power of content and communication,” said Bhalla. “In this next chapter of my professional life, I am looking forward to taking these years of rewarding experience with Mates and continue delivering value through the various channels of communication in the content space.” 

    An alumnus of Jamnabai Narsee School, Bhalla spent his initial 10 years in creating content – direction and production, followed by fourteen years in content marketing, branded content, film marketing, celebrity management and solutions.

    He has worked on blockbuster projects like “Andaz Apna Apna,” “Damini,” “Ghatak,” and “Barsaat,” having started his career as an assistant director to Rajkumar Santoshi. He was also the executive producer of Hindi feature film – “Shararat.”

    After procuring prolific experience in content production and direction, his first independent venture, TeamWorks focused on branded content, celebrity management & film marketing. It was eventually bought out by Sam Balsara to create Mates.

    Bhalla has worked on more than 100 films from the country’s top producers and studios, being instrumental in delivering breakthrough communication with engaging content formats. He has won over 17 accolades in the advertising and media industry.

  • Media veteran Vijay Rajput retires, Ruchir Jain to succeed him at Discovery

    Media veteran Vijay Rajput retires, Ruchir Jain to succeed him at Discovery

    Mumbai: Eurosport’s SVP – affiliate sales and business head and media industry veteran Vijay Rajput on Friday announced his decision to move on from Discovery and retire on 31 December. 

    Ruchir Jain, who has been heading finance at Discovery- South Asia for over three years, will take over from Rajput to lead the distribution and Eurosport business.  

    “We at Discovery Inc would like to thank our supremely talented leader Vijay Rajput as he has decided to retire from the organisation. Vijay’s stellar contribution over the years has helped us in being at the pinnacle of factual broadcasting in India,” stated Discovery Inc managing director – South Asia Megha Tata. “Although it is hard to say goodbye, we once again thank him for inspiring us and wish him the absolute best for the next phase of his life.”

    “Elated about Ruchir taking up the role where he designs the next chapter of growth ahead,” Tata further said.

    Rajput’s career that spread over 39 years, kicked off at Discovery over seven years back where he was instrumental in the setup and driving year-on-year growth of the network in India. His endeavors included that of the network establishing itself in sports broadcast while laying extraordinary spotlight towards speeding up Discovery’s main goal of staying the best real-life entertainment network in the country.

  • Network18 onboards Sohini Guharoy as head of audience growth

    Network18 onboards Sohini Guharoy as head of audience growth

    Mumbai: Sohini Guharoy has joined Network18 Group as the head of audience growth.

    Guharoy has moved on from NDTV, where she was heading audience and social strategy. Before that, she set up the audience engagement team at The Quint. 

    Her expertise lies in driving an integrated engagement and content strategy to accelerate audience engagement and revenue growth on platforms. 

    She has led content for social, developed products in-house for automation, forged platform partnerships, responsible for community management and hired appropriate talent for the audience division in her previous role.

  • Viacom18 appoints Siddharth Sharma as EVP – sports

    Viacom18 appoints Siddharth Sharma as EVP – sports

    Mumbai: Viacom18 has appointed Siddharth Sharma as executive vice president (EVP) – sports.

    Previously, Sharma was with The Walt Disney Company-owned Star Sports network as senior vice president. He joined Star Sports as AVP in 2013 and was elevated to the position of vice president – head of Kabaddi (content and production) in 2015. “As I end my 8.5 years journey at Star Sports, I reflect with humility and thank my mentors, co-conspirators and team members who have massively contributed in making my work look good,” Sharma wrote in a LinkedIn post.

    Prior to Star Network, Sharma worked with ABP News as sports editor for almost 11 years. His past stints also include Zee News.

    Viacom18 is looking to expand its presence in the sports broadcasting segment. The media and entertainment network recently announced a multi-year partnership with The National Basketball Association (NBA) to deliver live NBA games and programming to fans in India across television and over-the-top streaming.

    NBA, Viacom18 announce multi-year broadcast and streaming partnership in India

    Viacom18 is building its team ahead of the launch of its first sports channel.