MUMBAI: In a career move that straddles the worlds of OTT and grassroots sports, Manoj Padmanabhan has taken over as chief growth officer at Smitson Entertainment. The announcement was made public via Linkedin, where Padmanabhan confirmed he would continue in his role as chief revenue officer at Sportvot while spearheading growth at Smitson.
Smitson Entertainment is building its identity around storytelling for the new-age Indian audience. From web series and show formats pitched to top OTT players to music IPs designed for global stage experiences, the company aims to put Indian creative narratives in the global spotlight. Padmanabhan’s entry comes at a time when Smitson is ramping up content pipelines and forging international collaborations.
“Pranaay Pradhaan let’s make this count”, Padmanabhan said in a post, hinting at an ambitious new chapter.
Padmanabhan brings more than two decades of experience across sports broadcasting, digital media, and entertainment. Currently at Sportvot, he has been instrumental in building a cost-effective live streaming platform tailored for community and grassroots sports. Under his leadership, Sportvot launched the Sportvot Cloud Studio—a web-based production tool enabling multi-camera sports broadcasts from smartphones, professional rigs, or even AI-driven cameras.
Prior to this, Padmanabhan held leadership roles at Alpha Metaverse Technologies, Total Esports (TES), Dailyhunt, and Star TV Network, where he led niche sports sales and helped establish leagues like Pro Kabaddi and Premier Badminton League. He also played a foundational role in shaping Indian Super League (ISL) at RISE Worldwide, transforming India’s football broadcast ecosystem.
With his music initiative Soulful Vibrations and past ventures into production and programming at Ten Sports and UTV, Padmanabhan brings a multidisciplinary flair to the table—equally at home with tech stacks and turntables.
As Smitson positions itself at the intersection of entertainment, technology, and cultural storytelling, Padmanabhan’s blend of experience, agility and industry foresight could help shape a powerful creative engine built for scale.