GECs
Asia Pacific Broadcasting Awards for AIR & DD
NEW DELHI: All India Radio has won the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union’s ABU Award for Best Children’s Programme for 2004. An Oriya musical feature from AIR Sambhalpur, “Dhire Dhire Bahija Pawana” (Blow Blow Thou Serene Air) has been adjudged as the best Children’s program of the year.
The 15 minute program focuses on the importance of trees in generating oxygen, so essential for supporting life systems on earth. The program aims to create awareness among children to plant more trees and take care of the environment. The program is written and produced by Padma Lochan Das. Music composition – Prafulla Kumar Mitra.
Doordarshan engineer-in-chief, RK Gupta has received the ABU Award for Excellence in Broadcast Engineering, for his contribution towards development of the television network in India. Doordarshan today operates the second largest terrestrial network in the world after CCTV, China.
The AIR and DD Awards were received by KS Sarma, CEO, Prasar Bharati on 25 September 2004 at the award ceremony held as part of the 41st general assembly of Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union at Almaty, Kazakhastan.
More than 300 broadcasters and administrators attended the three day event. A key focus of the general assembly itself was the challenges facing free-to-air broadcasters in an age of fierce competition.
GECs
ZEEL overhauls sales structure to chase growth across TV and digital platforms
New structure sharpens digital push as viewing habits fragment fast
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is reshuffling its sales playbook as it looks to keep pace with a fast-changing media landscape, where audiences are scattered, screens are multiplying and advertisers are following the data.
According to media reports, the rejig is anchored in the company’s push to build a more integrated, data-led monetisation engine, one that can straddle both traditional television and fast-growing digital platforms with equal ease.
At the heart of the move is a reworked sales architecture designed to deliver cross-platform solutions. With connected TV gaining ground and digital consumption surging, ZEEL is aligning its teams to move quicker, think broader and sell smarter.
The restructuring is being led by chief operating officer, advertisement revenue, Sandeep Mehrotra, at a time when the company says it is seeing tremendous growth. The idea is simple: match the right talent to the right opportunity in a market that is anything but static.
As part of the overhaul, several long-serving executives have been elevated to chief sales officer roles across regions and content clusters. Sanjoy Chatterjee will head the east market, while Gunjarav Nayak takes charge of the west along with high-margin verticals such as hmg, brand works, intellectual properties and digital sales. Rajnish Gupta will oversee bengaluru and chennai markets alongside the kannada and tamil clusters.
In other key moves, Divjyot Dhanda will lead hyderabad and kochi markets and manage zee tv, zee keralam and the telugu cluster. Roshan Vasu Kotian will supervise a diverse portfolio including Zee Marathi, &tv, Zee Punjabi, Zee Anmol, Big Magic and Zee Biskope.
The company is also strengthening its bench, appointing national sales heads across retail, regional clusters, digital and brand solutions. Ankur Kapila’s appointment to lead digital sales signals a sharper push into a segment that continues to outpace traditional formats.
Behind the scenes, dedicated strategy and operations roles have been carved out for both linear and digital businesses. Nitin Shetty, Rajkiran Shrivastav and Priya Nambiar will take on key responsibilities to ensure the new structure runs with precision.
The broader aim is clear. ZEEL wants a bigger slice of advertising budgets that are steadily drifting towards digital and connected TV ecosystems. By integrating its offerings, the company hopes to deepen client relationships while unlocking new revenue streams.
The new structure takes effect immediately, with Mehrotra continuing to report to chief executive officer Punit Goenka and steer the company’s advertising revenue strategy. Senior executive Laxmi Shetty will support the transition, with her revised role expected to be announced soon.
In a market where content is everywhere but attention is scarce, ZEEL’s latest move is less about rearranging the org chart and more about staying in the game.
