ITV

Tag: Star TV network

  • Republic TV loses veteran operations chief after eight-year stint

    Republic TV loses veteran operations chief after eight-year stint

    NEW DELHI: Hersh Bhandari, chief operating officer of Republic Media Network, has called time on his eight-year tenure at the news broadcaster, announcing his departure in a LinkedIn post that urged colleagues to “ignore all rumours” about his next move.

    The media veteran, who has spent three decades climbing the ranks of India’s television industry, said he was taking a “small break to reinvent myself and gear up for the next adventure.”

    His departure marks the end of a significant chapter for Republic TV, where Bhandari served as both chief operating officer for the broader network and chief executive officer of Republic World since December 2018.
    In his farewell message, Bhandari thanked Arnab Goswami and the editorial team for their “intensity and support”, while crediting his time at Republic with teaching him strategic thinking and leadership skills. He described the experience as helping him learn “great entrepreneur lessons” and draw “inspiration from colleagues every single day.”

    Bhandari’s career spans some of India’s most prominent media houses, including a six-year stint at Times Network, where he served as vice-president of sales and national revenue head for Times Now. Before joining Republic, he spent nearly two years as national revenue head at TV Today Network.

    His media journey began in the 1990s with a marketing role at Star TV Network, after cutting his teeth in the clothing industry with a seven-year tenure at Pepe Jeans London. At Times Network, he also held senior positions at Zoom, serving as vice-president and national head for four years.

    The executive, who describes himself as an “avid enthusiast of sports and music,” has built a reputation for driving growth across people and media operations. His LinkedIn profile carries the motto: “No matter how far down we may be, we are never too far down to come back.”

    Republic Media Network has not yet announced a replacement for Bhandari’s role. The news comes as India’s television news sector continues to face intense competition and evolving viewer preferences in the digital age.

  • YouTube ropes in Viacom18 cricket advertising veteran

    YouTube ropes in Viacom18 cricket advertising veteran

    MUMBAI: YouTube has hired Shridhar Venkataramana as strategic partner manager for content partnerships, marking a significant coup for the Google-owned video platform in India’s lucrative cricket advertising market.

    The appointment sees Venkataramana move from Viacom18 Media, where he spent three years as senior director of cricket brand solutions. He brings deep expertise in cricket monetisation, having previously orchestrated brand partnerships across marquee tournaments including ICC, BCCI and ACC events during his six-and-a-half-year tenure at Star TV network. At Star Sports, he progressed through roles spanning revenue strategy and key account management, developing pricing models for some of cricket’s most valuable properties.

    Venkataramana’s career trajectory began at PepsiCo, where he cut his teeth as a management trainee before advancing to area sales manager. His LinkedIn announcement cheekily noted the transition from being “on YouTube” to being “in YouTube.”

    The hire underscores YouTube’s ambitions to capture a larger slice of India’s sports advertising pie, particularly as cricket viewership increasingly migrates to digital platforms. With India representing YouTube’s largest market by user base, securing experienced sports media executives has become critical to the platform’s revenue growth strategy.

    The appointment, effective August 2025, positions YouTube to better compete with established broadcasters for premium cricket content partnerships and advertising deals in the world’s most cricket-obsessed market.

  • JioStar taps ad sales powerhouse Anuradha Mathu Agrawal to lead the charge

    JioStar taps ad sales powerhouse Anuradha Mathu Agrawal to lead the charge

    MUMBAI: When it comes to advertising, the battle for consumer attention is fierce, and JioStar has just enlisted a powerhouse to take the lead. Anuradha Mathu Agrawal has stepped in as head of mid-market entertainment ad sales, armed with decades of experience in media sales and strategic revenue growth. With a career spanning top networks and ever-evolving markets, she is set to redefine JioStar’s ad sales game with fresh strategies and bold moves.

    Her appointment follows the exit of Dhruv Dhawan, who previously led digital growth for mid-tier and emerging clients. While Dhawan’s next move remains a mystery, his contributions to JioStar’s digital ad sales strategy were widely recognised.

    A career built on media mastery

    If the advertising industry had a hall of fame, Agrawal’s name would be etched in gold. She has consistently delivered market-leading ad sales strategies, built robust revenue streams, and established herself as an expert in regional content monetisation.

    Agrawal’s media journey kicked off in 1994 with Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times of India Group), back when print was still king and social media wasn’t hijacking everyone’s attention span. She later took her talents to India Today in 1998, proving she wasn’t just here to play—she was here to win.

    In 1999, she landed at Star India, where she spent nearly a decade making TV advertising a goldmine, selling ad slots that turned daily soaps, cricket matches, and reality TV into revenue machines. After an impressive nine-year run, she moved to Ndtv as senior vice president in 2008, and by 2010, she was fine-tuning brand deals at Turner Broadcasting System as an executive director (Cartoon Network, anyone?).

    Then came the plot twist—she co-founded Leomax International in 2012, running the show for nearly three years, striking e-commerce deals with Snapdeal, Fashion&You, and 99labels. Because why just climb the corporate ladder when you can build one yourself?

    By 2015, she was back in the corporate saddle as national revenue head at CNN-News18, before making a grand return to Star TV Network in 2016 as senior vice president—later rising to executive director at Disney Star post-merger, where she dominated regional ad sales in Telugu markets and the kids’ portfolio.

    The entertainment ad sales landscape is evolving faster than a binge-worthy series, and Agrawal is here to push JioStar to the forefront. With JioStar doubling down on innovation, her expertise will be pivotal in scaling revenue, optimising advertiser engagement, and creating a next-level media ecosystem.

    JioStar’s entertainment ad sales division just got a serious boost, and with Agrawal at the helm, the industry is watching closely. Will she revolutionise regional advertising? If history is any indication, the answer is a resounding YES.

     

  • Parinda Singh appointed marketing head Hindi Movie Cluster & Sony Marathi at SPNI

    Parinda Singh appointed marketing head Hindi Movie Cluster & Sony Marathi at SPNI

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has announced the appointment of Parinda Singh as head of marketing for its Hindi movie cluster and Sony Marathi.

    Bringing over 23 years of experience in brand building, consumer insights, and marketing strategy, Singh has worked with India’s top brands, media houses, and Fortune 500 companies. her expertise spans content marketing, digital media, fintech, and over-the-top (OTT ) platforms. She has a proven track record of developing growth strategies, scaling brands, and fostering cross-functional collaboration.

    Prior to this appointment, Singh served as a marketing consultant, advising leading organisations across sectors such as sports, media, and digital platforms. she has previously held senior marketing roles at Zee Entertainment, Star TV network, NDTV Imagine, and Bennett Coleman & Co. Singh has also worked ad agencies on the servicing side such as Lowe Lintas, FCB Ulka and Mudra Communications. She holds  a bachelor’s  degree in commerce and an MBA in marketing from NMIMS, Mumba.

    In her new role, Singh will spearhead marketing strategies, enhance brand engagement, and drive growth for the Hindi movie cluster and Sony Marathi, with a focus on delivering impactful campaigns that resonate with audiences.

  • Nikhil Madhok joins Amazon Prime Video as original content head-Hindi

    Nikhil Madhok joins Amazon Prime Video as original content head-Hindi

    Mumbai: Nikhil Madhok, former executive vice president & head of original content of Disney+ Hotstar has joined Amazon Prime Video as its new original content head (Hindi). 

    Under his leadership, he will oversee the growth and expansion of its original content, which will facilitate Prime Video to expand its original content footprint in Hindi.  Amazon Prime Video plans to utilise Madhok’s rich experience across TV and digital ecosystems to ramp up its original content offering. He will report to Aparna Purohit-Head of India Originals who continues to lead the charge in developing original series and movies across multiple Indian languages.

    In addition, the company’s spokesperson said, “In its content upfront in April, the company showcased over 40 titles that will stream on the service in the next 18-24 months and we understand that there are 70 titles under production/ development.”   

    During his stint at Disney+ Hotstar’s Madhok led the conception and launch of Hotstar’s foray into original content titled Hotstar Specials. He was responsible for the entire slate of specials from content strategy, ideation, curation, script development, production, and launch. 

    Disney+ Hotstar has produced original shows such as Special Ops, Aarya, Criminal Justice, Human, Grahan, and Ghar Waapsi under his leadership.

    Sharing his farewell posts on social media Linkedin, Madhok said, “ It is an extremely special feeling when you build something from scratch. I was fortunate to get that opportunity 4.5 years ago when I was asked to lead Disney + Hotstar’s foray into original shows. What started as an exciting but uncertain initiative soon blossomed into a strategic agenda. Ideas grew from one line and scripts to shows and franchises.”

    At the end of the note, he added, “ I am incredibly excited about the next challenge at one of the most innovative companies of all time, where I start very soon. I am even more excited about the confluence of consumers, content, and technology in our incredible country and the bright future ahead.”

    Embed:https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6970577608191152128/

    Previously, he worked at Star India for over five years, he was executive vice president of content and developed the use case & business strategy for Hotstar’s foray into original content. Madhok held several positions at Star, including vice president of network marketing, head of programming strategy, marketing & on-air promotion for Star Plus, and business head of Star Bharat.

    He later worked for Discovery as the head of products in the Asia Pacific region, where he was in charge of the company’s linear TV and digital products across APAC. Madhok began his career at Unilever as global marketing manager from 2005 to 2008. He left Unilever to become senior director of marketing at Turner (now WarnerMedia).

  • AVOW onboards Sandeep Negi as associate director of sales, India

    AVOW onboards Sandeep Negi as associate director of sales, India

    MUMBAI: Mobile OEM user acquisition specialist, AVOW has appointed Sandeep Negi as its new associate director of sales, India. Negi will lead all of AVOW’s business development initiatives in the country as part of the company’s domestic expansion plans while positioning AVOW as a household name in the mobile OEM marketing ecosystem in the region. He will operate out of AVOW’s branch office in Bengaluru, and become its fifth member in this local office.

    Negi joins the company with 10-plus years of experience cutting across the agency, mobile, and online advertising arenas, with an extensive focus on international business development and global growth strategies. Prior to this, Negi had successful stints across some of India’s leading media companies, including Bennett Coleman and Co. (Times Group), Star TV Network (now part of Disney), and 9X Media. In his previous roles, Negi has played a pivotal role in assisting some of India’s most prominent players in the mobile app industry to access new markets & significantly scale their revenues.

    Speaking on the new appointment, AVOW co-founder Ashwin Shekhar said, “We are pleased to have Sandeep on board in the senior management team. AVOW is on a hyper-growth path in the mobile OEM marketing space. Within a short period of two years since entering the Indian market, AVOW has serviced many leading industry players such as Amazon Prime, Navi, upGrad, Byju’s, Matrimony.com, MPL, and WazirX, among many others, offering incremental user growth and engagement for their mobile apps.”

    “In line with our growth plans, we needed an experienced top management muscle to drive our expansion plans aggressively in India. Sandeep’s in-depth industry experience in business development, strategy, and strong expertise in driving growth are great value additions to AVOW and our team. He will play an important role in our efforts to educate mobile marketers and app developers about the benefits of mobile OEMs when integrated into their mobile marketing mix,” he added.

    In his new role at AVOW, Negi said, “AVOW’s one-stop solution for mobile OEM aggregation is steadily growing its presence in the mobile app ecosystem in India. Strengthening the company’s status as the most viable and lucrative advertising alternative to traditional play stores will be on top of my agenda. We are witnessing an increased interest from players within the financial, health, edutech, gaming, and m-commerce sectors in this market.”

    “Our aim will be to provide mobile app companies with a unique opportunity to access untapped mobile advertising inventory at scale and deliver a powerful consulting service by advising on how mobile marketers and app developers can best invest their marketing mix across alternative advertising channels for incremental user growth and engagement. I am delighted to be a part of AVOW’s growth trajectory in India and to be able to contribute to its mission,” he further said.

  • Kishan Kumar joins Star TV as executive director

    Kishan Kumar joins Star TV as executive director

    Mumbai: Media veteran Kishan Kumar has joined Star TV Network as executive director. In this role, he will lead the channel business for Malayalam GEC Asianet. 

    Kumar is armed with 22 years of experience with most of it spent on the media agency side of the business. He was associated with GroupM’s Maxus Global for 13 years.

    In his most recent role, he was associated with media agency Wavemaker India as chief growth officer for more than three years.  

    An alumnus of MICA Ahmedabad, Kumar’s expertise lies in strategic planning, business development, trading, new media, product development and talent management. He was one of the key architects in building Maxus into one of the biggest media agencies in the South of India. He led the South business across Bangalore, Chennai, Kerala and Hyderabad for Wavemaker India.

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  • Disney Star elevates Harry Griffith to head rights acquisition & syndication-sports

    Disney Star elevates Harry Griffith to head rights acquisition & syndication-sports

    Mumbai: The Walt Disney Company has expanded Harry Griffith’s role to head rights acquisition and syndication sports for Disney Star. He will report to Disney Star head sports Sanjog Gupta. 

    Harry will be taking over additional responsibilities of rights acquisition and key licensor relationships in addition to his current responsibility of heading global syndication and sales for sports. Harry has been a part of the sports team since July 2015. He started his journey with the sales team and proceeded to take on global syndication of sports rights. Over the last year, Harry has managed tough negotiations in the Middle East and facilitated rights deal renewals across the world.

    Griffith has over 15 years of experience working in the media, sports, and entertainment industries. His expertise lies in TV/digital media rights, ad sales solutions, rights acquisition, syndication, sponsorship, digital, monetisation and business development for the world’s leading rights owners, agencies and broadcasters in multiple territories.

    Prior to joining Star TV Network in 2015, he was associated with Eurosport as international sales and partnerships manager. He has also been with IMG Media for eight years before he quit as commercial sales and partnerships manager.

  • Zeel’s sales director Ankit Anthwal moves on

    Zeel’s sales director Ankit Anthwal moves on

    Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s (Zeel) director of sales Ankit Anthwal has announced his decision to move on from the company after a six-year stint. 

    Anthwal took to social media and shared an update saying he is moving onto a new chapter in his life. “As I move onto a new chapter in my life, the journey that has led me here is something I’d like to share. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited has been an integral part of my life over the last 6 years. This has by far been the longest time I have invested in any organisation and there are quite a few reasons for the same,” he said in a LinkedIn post.

    Anthwal joined Zeel in 2015 as senior manager – North (Zee TV). In 2018, he became territory head (North) and led the market for Z Marathi/Z Yuva (GEC’s) and a new music channel launch in Maharashtra, Z Vajwa.

    Prior to Zeel, Anthwal worked with Star TV Network as a senior executive for two years and handled Star Plus and Star Gold. He earlier worked with Reliance Broadcast Network and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance.

    “While there are many people who work hard in their professional careers, there are very few places that acknowledge and reward the same. Zee Entertainment was that place for me. With consistent growth and support I flourished within its system. My mentors guided me through the various challenges, my peers motivated me to keep going and my teams’ efforts always ensured we thrived. Thank you Zee, for a rollercoaster ride that has finally reached its conclusion, leaving behind a thrilling experience that I’ll always be thankful for and have fond memories of,” he further said in the same post.

    Anthwal completed his MBA in marketing from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad. His next assignment is still unknown.

  • Disney India elevates Aravamudhan K as executive director, government relations

    Disney India elevates Aravamudhan K as executive director, government relations

    Mumbai: The Walt Disney Company India has elevated Aravamudhan K to the position of executive director, government relations. Previously, he served as senior vice president at Star TV Network.

    Aravamudhan K has been associated with the TV broadcast industry since 1993. He joined Star TV India in 2007 as manager of corporate communications.

    On Friday, he took to LinkedIn to announce completing 15 years at Star India. “Today completed my 15 exciting and eventful years at Star India. Witnessed many changes in the broadcasting sector and in the company thanks to my mentors, colleagues, friends, family and external stakeholders who played a major role in my evolution as a GR professional,” he said.

    He spent five years working with the Indian government at the ministry of industry. He has had stints at media houses such as SAB TV, UTV, ITV, and Star News before joining Star TV Network.