MAM
Amagi to unveil Stormplus Hybrid Sat+Cloud ird at BVE2015
MUMBAI: Amagi, the leader in cloud-based TV broadcast infrastructure, will be unveiling its advanced Satellite + Cloud Receiver-Decoder (IRD), Stormplus at BVE2015.
The Stormplus IRDs work as satellite receivers enhanced with support for local content and ad insertion. They are capable of content store, trigger detection, HD video insertion, multiple audio tracks including Dolby surround, subtitles and multi-layer animated graphics.
Stormplus can receive local content from both satellite and cloud, enabling greater infrastructure flexibility for TV networks as the broadcasting ecosystem embraces cloud like never before. Unlike most ad-insertion systems, these IRDs give TV networks complete access and control on insertion of local content and advertisements.
Stormplus has a robust cloud UI management platform enabling TV networks to schedule, control and monitor playout of local content and Ads at remote headends.
“For TV networks who distribute their content through satellite, Stormplus provides a cost-effective alternative to regionalise content on existing feeds instead of setting up new satellite feeds. Especially in cases where TV networks are slowly transitioning from traditional satellite broadcast to the cloud, Stormplus augurs well as it is fully equipped with satellite + cloud hybrid capabilities,” said Amagi co-founder Srividhya Srinivasan.
Amagi is a pioneer in content regionalization and geo-targeting advertisements on satellite TV feeds. The company has developed innovative and proprietary content watermark technology for automatic detection of triggers and content replacement. Stormplus also supports traditional triggers such as SCTE-35 and DTMF cue-tones.
“Amagi holds multiple patents in delivering targeted advertising and content. We are committed to invest in technology research and bring out products that are revolutionary in the TV broadcast industry,” added Srinivasan.
Amagi will also showcase its channel playout, regionalization, linear OTT and monetization platforms at its stand #R06. The company has more than 4,000 edge servers deployed in over 15 countries across five continents.
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
