MAM
Sundance Channel acquires ‘Monkey Dust’ from FremantleMedia
MUMBAI: Sundance Channel has acquired the popular UK animated series Monkey Dust from Fremantle International Distribution (FID). The 18 part, half hour series is scheduled to premiere on the cable network in March 2006.
Monkey Dust is a cutting-edge animated comedy series that takes place in a nocturnal world where broad portions of British society are unmercifully lampooned. Story lines veer from examining the lives of normal city dwellers to the parody of some of the world’s most famous public figures.
“We’re always on the lookout for exciting new programming that distinguishes itself in the marketplace. Monkey Dust is a truly creative series that fits nicely into Sundance Channel’s eclectic mix of original and acquired series programming. Fremantle is a trailblasing company that has a diverse selection of captivating programming and we’re thrilled to be working with them,” said Sundance Channel executive vice president programming and marketing Laura Michalchyshyn.
“Our capacity to provide networks such as Sundance Channel with a wide range of creative programming truly demonstrates our dedication to giving international markets the best possible content for their individual audiences. We are confident that Sundance Channel’s American viewers will appreciate Monkey Dust’s unique style and humour,” said Fremantle International Distribution managing director David Ellender.
AD Agencies
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.
