SVG announces Indian advisory board to drive production innovation

NEW YORK: India’s sports production scene just got its own dream team. The Sports Video Group has launched an advisory board for its Indian operations, tapping Prashant Khanna, head of production services and technology for sports at JioStar, to lead a powerhouse lineup from across the industry.

The move comes as India’s appetite for sports content reaches fever pitch, with production technology and fan engagement evolving at breakneck speed. The SVG India Summit has become the country’s premier gathering for sports production professionals over the past two years, and the new board aims to push things further still.

“At a time when technology, production, and storytelling are converging faster than ever, SVG India provides a powerful platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing,” says Khanna, a technologist and mentor with over 20 years shaping sports media. Known as PK to most, he has worked everywhere from News Corp and Disney Star to his current role at JioStar.

The board reads like a who’s who of Indian sports and media technology. Mukund Acharya, chief at Sony Pictures Networks India, engineered high-stakes streaming for ICC World Cups. Kingshuk Bhattacharya, head of broadcast operations at Sony, is a Distinguished Engineer who set up the network’s live sports production facility. Chaitanya Chinchlikar of Whistling Woods International became the first Indian film educator invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Others include Jay Chauhan, head of global media and entertainment competency at Tech Mahindra; Mustafa Ghouse, general partner at Centre Court Capital, India’s first sports and gaming venture fund; Rajat Nigam, chief technology officer at JioStar; and Mallika Petkar, head of acquisitions and distribution for sports at JioStar, who has handled rights for the IPL, Olympics and FIFA.

Google Cloud’s Sameer Pitalwalla, head of gaming for Asia-Pacific, joins alongside Bharath Ram, chief product officer at JioHotstar, and Ajesh Ramachandran, senior manager for broadcast at the International Cricket Council, who pioneered cricket’s first vertical feed for mobile phones. Krithika Raman, vice-president of product engineering at Comcast India, Dinesh Singh, group chief technology officer at NDTV, and Satyam Trivedi, chief executive of GMR Sports, round out the roster.

Ken Kerschbaumer, co-executive director of SVG, says India brings together a passion for sports, technology and production that is unique in scale and innovation. The nation is home to some of the planet’s most powerful sports leagues and federations, not to mention hundreds of millions of obsessive fans glued to every delivery, every goal, every replay.

With this board in place, expect India’s sports production ecosystem to shift up several gears. The conversations happening here will shape how sport is produced, distributed and experienced by fans. And if this lineup is anything to go by, the future looks fast, loud and utterly unmissable.