Star India Regional Channels elevates Krishnan Kutty and Alok Jain
Star India announced top-level leadership rejig and has given additional responsibilities to its existing regional Channels leadership team. According to internal communication and sources close to the development, Krishnan Kutty, Business Head- the Tamil GEC- Star Vijay, has been given additional responsibilities of the Marathi GEC- Star Pravah and Malayalam GEC- Asianet.
Alok Jain, Business Head of Star Maa- the Telugu GEC Channel, gets additional responsibility of the Bengali GEC Star Jalsha, Kannada GEC Star Suvarna and soon to be launched Odiya GEC Star Kirano. These leadership elevations come as S Rajaram has decided to move on from Asianet as Business Head of Entertainment Cluster, which comprises Asianet GEC and Asianet Movies. Also, Sai Prasad – Business Head of Kannada GEC Star Suvarna, has also decided to move on from the organisation. Both Rajaram and Prasad are moving out of the organisations by September end, according to sources close to Medianews4u.
The Walt Disney Company India and Star India have recently announced restructuring and expansion of the current business structure and roles . Kevin Vaz, who was the Head of Infotainment, Kids & Regional Entertainment Channels- Star and Disney India, is heading the entertainment segment of Star & Disney India with responsibilities of the entire entertainment channel business including regional channels, Kids & Infotainment, Star Plus, Star Bharat, Star Utsav, Hindi Movies and the English cluster. Gaurav Banerjee, the head of Hindi and English Entertainment, was given the additional responsibility of leading content for the Hindi entertainment channels and Disney+ Hotstar.
Viacom18 appoints Anil Jayaraj as CEO – Sports
Viacom18 on Thursday announced the appointment of Anil Jayaraj as CEO – Sports. This development comes when the media and entertainment network is looking to expand its presence in the sports broadcasting segment. He will be leading the company’s foray into acquisition, broadcasting and monetisation of sports properties, the company said.
Jayaraj joins Viacom18 from Star Sports, where he was Executive Vice President and successfully led his team to deliver business performance across multiple sporting events, including Indian Premier League, Cricket World Cup, Pro Kabaddi League, Indian Super League, among others.Anil Jayaraj has previously also served as Chief Marketing Officer at Pidilite Industries Limited.
In a statement, Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Network18 said, “As a leading media & entertainment network in India, Viacom18 has been dialling up its offerings to tap into whitespaces across platforms. We believe that sports is an important category in our promise to deliver wholesome entertainment to our over 800 million viewers across demographics and geographies. With his rich experience in identifying and building sporting events into high value sportainment phenomena, Anil is aptly poised to lead our newest sports vertical.”
“Sporting events in India have evolved beyond just one or two games with increasing fandom amongst audiences towards newer competitive sports. This democratisation has created an unmatched opportunity for sportainment and I am excited to build Viacom18 network’s foray into sports as a category,” Jayaraj said.
Dentsu elevates Roopam Garg to CEO, dentsu X India
Dentsu India, has announced the appointment of Roopam Garg as the chief executive officer for dentsu X (dX) India, effective immediately. Garg, who has been in the role of chief operating officer (COO) of dX India for five years, has been promoted to lead the media agency.
In his new role, Garg will continue to report into Divya Karani, CEO, media – South Asia, Dentsu. Leading a strong team of media specialists, he will be responsible for carrying forward the learnings of seamless integrated consumer and brand interaction to drive holistic communication planning for clients’ business
“We are living in exciting times, with many new progress prospects ahead of us. dentsu X currently holds an enviable position in the industry. I’m confident that under Roopam’s leadership and his intuitive ability to assemble highly motivated teams, the best days are yet to come,” Karani said.
“dentsu X’s stature and growth is a result of our data-driven design, our commitment to deliver ‘experience beyond exposure’, and our deep client-agency partnership in effecting business outcomes. Along with our team, I look forward to accelerating our growth momentum,” Garg added.
Prashant Paulose moves to Google TV from Apple India
Head of Apple India’s music and video business, Prashant Paulose has joined Google to handle content partnerships, Google TV.
Paulose is a seasoned digital and media business leader with over 14 years of experience across corporate strategy, business development, content acquisition and licensing. He is an alumni of MBA-marketing and finance from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.
Prior to his last stint at Apple for about four years, he worked with Sony Pictures Network for more than six years as an assistant vice president – business development, digital and sports.
