ITV

Tag: BCCL

  • nexGTV names Dushyant Kohli as head – growth

    nexGTV names Dushyant Kohli as head – growth

    NEW DELHI: Subscription-driven video entertainment app nexGTV has appointed Dushyant Kohli as head – growth.

     

    He joins nexGTv with over 13 years of experience driving business growth and digital marketing for multiple businesses including the freemium social discovery network Wamba.com. He has also had stints with companies like HT Mobile Solutions, Zapak Digital Entertainment and BCCL.

     

    Kohli  started his career with The Indian Express Group followed by The Times Group.

     

    nexGTV COO Abhesh Verma said, “In Dushyant, we are bringing on board an excellent professional who understands the various dimensions of a digital business and underlying technology. His appointment is a timely step in helping us capitalise the immense market potential in the mobile TV space. Digital entertainment is fast becoming a staple amongst the Indian viewership, reflected in our continuing growth. We are confident that Dushyant’s joining will further accelerate our success.”

     

    Kohli added, “Having a good experience in the internet & mobile space and most popular digital engagement fields like gaming and social discovery, I always wanted to enter the digital entertainment domain and thus I’m excited to join nexGTv, which is the preferred digital entertainment destination for content consumers across India. The Indian digital entertainment market is in a very interesting phase, and I am eager to leverage my experience of business & user acquisition, engagement and retention to help carve nexGTv’s growth story.”

  • Times Network appoints Ashit Kukian as President – Revenue

    Times Network appoints Ashit Kukian as President – Revenue

    MUMBAI: Strengthening its senior management leadership, Times Network has announced the appointment of former president and COO of Radio City, Ashit Kukian as president – revenue. 

     

    Earlier he worked as president & chief operating officer  with Radio City 91.1 FM. He had served Radio City for 10 years, lately focusing on driving revenues for the brand through traditional and non-traditional sources.

     

    In his new role, Kukian will work closely with the content, distribution, marketing and other enabling functions to meet business objectives. The Ad sales and branded content teams of the Times Network will directly report to him and he will report to Times Network MD& CEO, MK Anand.

     

    Speaking about the appointment Anand said, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Ashit back into the Times Network fold as President – Revenue. His guidance, industry insights and operational expertise will help us achieve our aggressive growth targets and meet the business objectives through traditional and non – traditional revenue streams as we move into the future. I am sure his extensive background in media management and experience over two decades in the print, television & radio industry will add great value to the growth of Times Network.”

     

    Commenting on his new role at Times Network, Kukian said, “I am extremely excited to take on the new role with Times Network. As an individual helming the revenue vertical of a network that is growing by leaps and bounds, I will try my level best in giving my inputs, industry insights and operational expertise in the best possible manner. Using my experience garnered across print, television and radio I am sure I can lead the team in adding value to the growth of the network channels and businesses.”

     

    Kukian has had a 13 year stint with BCCL in the past where he managed several important roles, and over 15 years of experience in managing the business of media. He was a key member of the team that launched Zoom Television in 2004 and positioned it as premium Hindi entertainment channel for a high end urban audience within a year of its launch.

  • ET’s Rahul Joshi to join Network18 as group CEO news

    ET’s Rahul Joshi to join Network18 as group CEO news

    MUMBAI: The flow of top level talent from Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) continues into the Reliance Industries’ controlled Network 18.

     

    After appointing Radio Mirchi CEO and managing director AP Parigi as Network18 group CEO in January this year, the company has now roped in Economic Times’ editorial director Rahul Joshi as the CEO of news and group editor-in-chief.

     

    A top level executive from Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd confirmed to Indiantelevison.com that Joshi had indeed put in his papers at the company. 

     

    A source close to the development added, “Through a mail to all the employees of Network18, it was announced that Rahul Joshi will take the position of CEO news and group editor-in-chief. Since there was no one in this position earlier, there is no question of him replacing anyone. The team here is looking forward to working under his guidance.”

     

    Joshi had been serving as editorial director at Economic Times along with Rajrishi Singhal since 2004. However, after Singhal moved to the role of consulting editor in 2006, Joshi was handling the role of editorial director single handedly.

  • BCCL & Shoppers Stop ink licensing deal for Femina Flaunt

    BCCL & Shoppers Stop ink licensing deal for Femina Flaunt

    MUMBAI: Bennett, Coleman & Co and Shoppers Stop have formed a strategic partnership to extend Femina into the consumer products space.

     

    As part of this ‘co-create and co-own’ partnership, BCCL will license ‘Femina Flaunt’ to Shoppers Stop, to design, develop, and retail the brand, exclusively across Shoppers Stop stores, in the core fashion categories – apparel, footwear, accessories and bags. Flaunt is the retail identity developed by BCCL for Femina. 

     

    BCCL managing director Vineet Jain said, “This is in line with our brand extension strategy to partner with the best-in-class players to unlock immense hidden value in many of our marquee brands. As a group, we’ve always been ahead on the innovation curve, and this partnership is another such example.”

     

    Shoppers Stop customer care associate & managing director Govind Shrikhande added, “In line with our brand philosophy of Start Something New, we have embarked on a new partnership with the BCCL group to launch ‘Femina Flaunt’ in our stores. The premium positioning of this brand fits seamlessly into our diverse portfolio of premium brands. We are positive that ‘Femina Flaunt’ will be a huge success with our discerning customers.”

     

    BCCL director & business head brand extension Sandeep Dahiya said, “It’s a unique partnership that brings together complementing strengths from two formidable industry leaders, in a format that’s a win-win for both. With Shoppers Stop as the partner, we’re confident of stability, sustainability and most importantly, scalability of our brand, in these categories.” 

     

    The ‘Femina Flaunt’ range will be retailed exclusively through 300-400 sq feet of dedicated shop-in-shop space, within Shoppers Stop stores. The range will be launched in the Fall-Winter season this year, and will be available across 20 Shoppers Stop stores to begin with, and going upto 50 stores by the third year.

     

    Highlighting the uniqueness of the partnership, Dahiya added, “This partnership re-formats the existing licensing template in India, by creating a unique ‘co-create, co-own’ model that creates far more value at both ends. It not only gives Shoppers Stop a great opportunity to add one more strong franchise to its portfolio of premium labels, but also helps BCCL unlock significant value in its marquee brand, while still retaining the ownership of the brand.”

  • Sunil Lulla goes Grey

    Sunil Lulla goes Grey

    MUMBAI: No we are not talking about his hair; that happened sometime back.  We are talking about him getting back to his original professional calling: advertising. The affable gent whose last posting was that of  BCCL president corporate developement is slated to join Grey India as chairman and MD if sources are to be believed. 

     

    While a report stated that he will be replacing Grey India president & CEO Jishnu Sen, that may prove to be untrue. Sen is likely to continue in his position with Sunil Lulla being brought in as additional top management.

     

    Sen was unavailable for a comment. He joined Grey India in 2007 and was heading the Mumbai office. It was in 2009, he was appointed COO of the entire Grey India operation. And in May 2011, Sen was promoted as president & CEO.

     

    Lulla has spent close to nine years in TTN in various leadership roles. Prior to joining TTN, he was at Sony Entertainment Television as executive VP for three years. And in his early days he was associate account director, HTA (now JWT India).

  • Lodestar UM wins 11 Media Abbys; HT Media takes home 6 publisher awards

    Lodestar UM wins 11 Media Abbys; HT Media takes home 6 publisher awards

    GOA: The ninth edition of GoaFest has come as a good surprise for Lodestar UM. The agency won 11 Media Abbys and has thus come out as the clear winner in the crowd.  Mindshare with seven Media Abbys came second, while Milestone Brandcom and PHD India won five Media Abbys each to secure the third position.

    Of the total 50 Media Abbys which were given out on Day 1 of GoaFest, PHD India emerged as the only agency to have received a Grand Pix.  The agency bagged the award for its ‘Be Beautiful’ campaign. This year GoaFest received 619 entries from agencies for Media Abbys out of which 150 were shortlisted. 50 of them made it to the winners list.  

    The final judging process was done only in the presence of media agencies heads. Only one representative from a network group was taken on board, who couldn’t vote for any of its agencies’ entries. There were two preliminary rounds before the finalists were chosen. The shortlisted entries were put on the official website of GoaFest for easy access and transparency.  

    The other set of awards that were given out on Day 1 were from the publisher category which is a new entrant in Abbys this year. The category received around 63 entries. In this category, while BBCL got five awards, Hindustan Media Ventures received six. 

    The Advertising Club and chairman of the Awards Governing Council president Pratap Bose mentioned that the effort to add publisher category is to reward the work coming from a platform that connects the media and advertising agencies.

    Click here for to the Media Abby result Sheet

  • IBN18 Network ropes in Avinash Kaul as CEO

    IBN18 Network ropes in Avinash Kaul as CEO

    MUMBAI: Times Television Network (TTN) CEO Avinash Kaul has decided to move on from the Network. The former TTN CEO has joined Network18 group as IBN18 Network CEO.  In his new role, Kaul will be responsible for the day-to-day operational, strategic and financial management of the general news network. Amongst the key tasks mandated for Kaul is the consolidation and diversification of TV18’s general news network.

     

    Network18 group CEO B Saikumar said, “Avinash brings a very successful track record as a leader and a wealth of knowledge about the media and broadcasting industry. Now, as we gear up for an ambitious phase of growth, I am convinced that he has the inclusive skills and leadership that are needed to steer us through. He has our best wishes and support.”

     

    Network18 COO Ajay Chacko added, “The IBN18 Network has over the years consolidated its leadership in the news space. I am confident in Avinash’s ability to play a significant role to sustain the growth and leadership momentum of these stellar brands.  He will be working closely with the talented and resourceful marketing, editorial and sales teams to achieve this.”

     

    With a career spanning over 16 years, Kaul has rich experience in a variety of roles in sales, marketing and general management across genres like news and entertainment , movie and lifestyle in India.

     

    Asserted Kaul, “With the heightened interest in general news among the populace as is evident in the highest turnout percentage in the general elections the timing of me joining Network18 couldn’t have been better.  My mandate is to ensure leadership of the brands and continued business success with a clear focus on general news across various languages.”

     

    Prior to this, Kaul held the position of CEO – TV Division of BCCL, managing Times Now, ET Now and zoOm. He has also worked in leadership and various capacities in networks like Star, NDTV Media and Discovery Networks among others.

  • Viacom18 hires Utpal Das as Chief Commercial officer

    Viacom18 hires Utpal Das as Chief Commercial officer

    MUMBAI: From Zee to V. V as in Viacom18. That’s the route that Utpal Das is taking. Viacom18 Media today announced that the long time Times group and Zee TV professional has joined the company as chief commercial officer effective 1 August.

     

    Utpal will be reporting in to Viacom18 CEO Sudhanshu Vats and will be a part of the Viacom18 leadership team.

     

    Announcing this appointment Vats said, “As a network we are growing exponentially. In our next phase we are committed to strengthening our central functions to build efficiencies and drive synergies. Utpal brings rich and diversified experience to the team and I am confident he will contribute to our growth story. I welcome him to the Viacom18 family and look forward to working with him.”

     

    “I have always been in awe of the Viacom18 network for the strength of the channel portfolio and the way they have set benchmarks for television and film entertainment. Its indeed a privilege to be part of this wonderful team,” commented Das.

     

    Utpal brings to the table more than two decades of experience across several companies in the very diverse business segments ranging from Larsen & Toubro in engineering to Zee Entertainment and BCCL in media. Das is a bachelor of engineering from Regional Engineering College-Silchar and executive masters in international business from IIFT Delhi.

  • We are in the advertising business: BCCL MD Vineet Jain

    We are in the advertising business: BCCL MD Vineet Jain

    MUMBAI: Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd. (BCCL), which owns The Times of India Group of newspapers, is a dominant player in the media business in India because it is very advertisement savvy.

    “We are not in the newspaper business, we are in the advertising business,” Vineet Jain, the managing director of BCCL, is quoted as saying by The New Yorker, while dwelling on the dominance of his company in the media business in India.

    The argument of BCCL is that with newspapers sold so cheaply and generating little circulation revenue, newspapers depend more on ad revenue. “If ninety per cent of your revenues come from advertising, you’re in the advertising business,” Jain says. His elder brother Samir Jain is the vice-chairman of BCCL.

    These comments by Jain appear as part of a feature by The New Yorker, a US magazine published since 1925, on the dominant media conglomerate which appeared on 8 October.

    “Both of us think out of the box. We don’t go by the traditional way of doing business,” Vineet Jain said.

    The New Yorker notes that the Times group flagship The Times of India’s innovations begin in its eight-page second section, which is titled the Bombay Times. The section brims with color pictures of seductive women and muscular men, along with stories of Bollywood stars, handsome cricket pros, and international celebrities.

    The day The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta met Vineet Jain, the lead story in Bombay Times had described how aspiring actors, including a sultry Saiyami Kher, “are keen to start their innings in Bollywood.”

    Jain explained to Auletta that, like the surrounding stories, it (the lead story) was written by members of the reporting staff and paid for by the celebrities or their publicists.

    The feature said an internal company report in June lauded the strategy as “so important that today nearly all Bollywood movie releases pay for promotional coverage ahead of movie releases, and actors/actresses pay to develop their brand through coverage in the paper.”

    Jain got the idea after reading an interview with Richard Branson, the owner of the UK’s Virgin Group, in which Branson remarked that the reason he parachutes from airplanes and performs similar stunts is that, with this free publicity, he annually saves his company tens of millions of dollars in advertising.

    “When I read it, I said, ‘Oh, my God, eureka—I’m stupid!’ ” Vineet Jain said. “Why these guys are not advertising in my paper is because I’m giving them free P.R.”

  • iProspectCommunicate2 picks Sayan Banerjee as VP – biz development

    Mumbai: iProspectCommunicate 2, a search and digital consulting agency, has appointed Sayan Banerjee as VP – business development, key client relationships, digital consulting for BFSI and other core verticals.

    Banerjee will also drive client engagement, planning and revenues for iProspectCommunicate 2.

    iProspectCommunicate2 managing director Vivek Bhargava said, “We intend to drive our leadership in digital consulting with this appointment. Sayan comes in with rich client end experience and as such is best suited to understand marketing rationale from a client perspective and provide digital solutions to such marketing opportunities.”

    Banerjee added, “I am looking forward to this opportunity, as it will help me drive digital success stories across a diverse set of clients and target audiences.”

    Banerjee comes in with over 11 years of work experience spanning across Digital Marketing, Strategic Planning and Product Management in Banking, Media and IT. Prior to joining iProspectCommunicate2, he has also worked with HSBC India, BCCL and Newscorp India.