MAM
Wavemaker appoints Ajay Gupte as COO, south asia
MUMBAI: Wavemaker, the global media, content, and technology agency, today announced the appointment of Ajay Gupte as the Chief Operating Officer for Wavemaker, South Asia.
Ajay joins from Wavemaker Indonesia where he was Managing Director of the agency. Ajay has successfully led the MEC-Maxus merger in Indonesia. Under his stewardship, Wavemaker Indonesia won several blue-chip clients and many global and local accolades for the agency.
Ajay has rich experience of over 23 years in media, sales and marketing spanning across markets like India, Africa and Indonesia. Prior to joining Wavemaker Indonesia, he has spent over 15 years in India with Maxus (now part of Wavemaker) handling clients like Nokia and Hero MotoCorp to name a few. Earlier to Wavemaker, Ajay has had extensive cross-functional stints with TVS Motor Company.
In his new role, Ajay will be located at Wavemaker Delhi office and will report into Kartik Sharma, CEO – Wavemaker, South Asia.
Commenting on the appointment, Kartik Sharma, CEO – Wavemaker, South Asia said, “It is an absolute pleasure to have Ajay back in India. Under his leadership as MD of Indonesia since 2011, Wavemaker (erstwhile MEC) has grown exponentially and is now ranked as top 3 agency in the country. I am confident with his strong experience of agency and client domain, Ajay will be will be able to grow Wavemaker further as an agency of the future.”
Commenting on his new role, Ajay said, “I am very excited to be back in India. The media scene in India is vibrant and offers unlimited opportunity for marketeers. With our future-focused offering around Media, Content, and Technology, Wavemaker is uniquely positioned to deliver maximum impact for our clients. I am delighted that the next lap of my journey continues with Wavemaker where I can contribute to delivering this promise.”
MAM
IAS launches Total TV suite to boost transparency in CTV ads
New solution offers programme-level insights across platforms and publishers.
MUMBAI: In the world of streaming, what you see is not always what advertisers get and that’s exactly the problem IAS is looking to fix. Integral Ad Science (IAS) has unveiled ‘IAS Total TV’, a new suite of Connected TV (CTV) solutions aimed at bringing what it calls “linear-like” transparency to the fast-growing streaming ecosystem. In simple terms, it is an attempt to make digital TV advertising a lot less of a black box.
The offering aggregates programme-level data covering genre, ratings, language, shows and specific content from major platforms including Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Prime Video, along with opted-in publishers via Publica. All of this is housed within the IAS Signal interface, giving advertisers a unified view of where their ads actually appear.
The timing is hardly accidental. According to Nielsen, as of Q4 2025, 74.2 per cent of all TV viewing in the United States is ad-supported. Of that, streaming alone accounts for 45.6 per cent outpacing traditional television and cementing its position as the largest ad-supported medium. Advertisers have followed suit, funnelling premium budgets into CTV, but often without a clear, standardised view of performance or placement.
That gap is precisely what IAS is targeting. By combining content insights with media quality, supply path data and campaign outcomes, the platform aims to give marketers more control over when, where and alongside what content their ads run. The goal is not just visibility, but accountability ensuring ads land in brand-suitable environments rather than disappearing into opaque inventory pools.
The suite also promises practical gains. Marketers can access real-time, aggregated transparency across shows and platforms, streamline campaign controls across digital video channels, and leverage third-party verification to improve efficiency and pre-bid decision-making. Measurement tools extend to quality reach and incremental conversions, offering a clearer link between spend and outcomes.
At a time when high CPMs and fragmented data make CTV both attractive and complex, the push for transparency is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity. IAS’s move reflects a broader industry shift, where the race is no longer just for eyeballs, but for clarity on what those eyeballs are actually watching.
Because in streaming’s premium playground, knowing the content may just matter as much as owning the audience.
