MAM
Comcast Disney drama continues, new bids for the Mouse likely
MUMBAI: Two days after Comcast announced its bid for Disney, there seems to be no definite turn of events on the matter. But one thing for sure that will come out of the merger is that it would fundamentally redraw the lines in a constant battle between cable and satellite systems and ESPN over rates for sports programming.
Comcast is ESPN’s biggest customer and ESPN is the most costly and the most valuable basic cable network which puts them on opposite ends of tough negotiations over the price to carry the popular sports channel. Every year, Disney has raised the asking price for its ESPN network by as much as 20 per cent, and cable companies, such as Comcast and Cox Communications Inc. have balked.
Now, Comcast’s unsolicited bid for Disney would, for the first time, put ESPN in the hands of a company that has the ability to distribute it – and raise prices for its rivals like Disney does – potentially stirring up the contentious issue some more. Of course as a corporate parent of Disney, Comcast would want to boost profits from both ESPN and its own cable properties, a balance that is tricky, but not impossible.
Whatever said and done, in the end Comcast would have to comply with the FCC’s program access rules, which would guarantee access to ESPN.
While all these issues are being thrown up, Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner at a presentation to analysts yesterday, joked about how they planned to buy Comcast. According to one media report, after about eight hours of presentation, Eisner was the first Disney executive to make any direct mention of the bid by Comcast, after someone in the audience asked him about Disney’s acquisition strategy. “Acquisitions? Oh – we’re buying Comcast!” he joked.
Eisner even went to the extent of jesting at Pixar CEO and co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. whose Macintosh computers are a leading alternative to PCs running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system Steve Jobs. Eisner was quoted in a media report saying, “He created the computer, or at least Windows, or whatever he created, and did a good job.” There were peals of laughter from analysts attending the company conference in Orlando, Florida where he was addressing the collapse of talks between Disney and Pixar on extending their partnership, which has generated five smash hits including last year’s Finding Nemo. Since those talks failed late last month, Eisner and Jobs have traded barbs, each blaming the other.
The presentation to analysts were meant in part to counter that charge by showing the company’s turnaround strategy will pay off with strong growth through at least 2007. Eisner also said that the company would consider a higher dividend as a use for the company’s cash. He was quoted in a media report as saying, “We pay a pretty good dividend, I mean as far as size of the money. I’m sure we’ll be talking about that as well.”
In the midst of all this, while News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch said that he was not interested in making a bid for Disney, it was reported in The Post that Time Warner is weighing a possible bid for the company to counter Comcast’s surprise hostile takeover offer for Disney. Time Warner, the world’s biggest media company, was scheduled to hold a conference call with investment bankers to discuss the possibility of making a run at Disney as was reported in the paper.
Meanwhile, Pixar Animation Studios’ Steve Jobs was also understood to be in active discussions with parties, including cable operators, about putting together a team to emerge as a potential bidder for the Mouse House. One media report said that the potential suitors for Disney, including Time Warner, Viacom and Pixar were being forced to jockey for position in what may turn into a bidding war for Disney following the $66 billion unsolicited takeover bid that Comcast launched.
Now it is only a matter of wait and watch to find out which cat finally manages to nip the much-sought-after Mouse.
MAM
Ember Cookware appoints Amit Singh as chief of supply chain
10-year veteran to lead operations as brand scales across D2C, quick commerce and retail.
MUMBAI: Ember just handed its supply chain the perfect seasoning because when your cookware is non-toxic and non-stick, the operations behind it better be fast and flawless. Ember Cookware has appointed Amit Singh as chief of supply chain and Services, bolstering its leadership team at a pivotal growth phase. Singh brings over a decade of experience in supply chain strategy, operations and large-scale network buildouts.
He began his career at Singapore-based retail giant Giant Hypermarket before joining Pharmeasy in 2015, where he played a foundational role in building and scaling its pan-India supply chain across B2B and B2C channels. At API Holdings, he later led supply chain operations for North India, managing end-to-end execution across complex, multi-city networks.
In his new role, Amit will oversee Ember’s complete supply chain and service ecosystem including sourcing, manufacturing coordination, logistics, last-mile delivery, post-purchase support and workforce development. His mandate focuses on building cost-efficient, resilient operations that shorten fulfilment times, strengthen inventory management and deliver a consistently high-quality consumer experience as the brand expands nationally.
Ember Cookware co-founder & CEO Siddharth Gadodia said, “Supply chain is where growth either holds or breaks. As we scale across channels and geographies, we need operations that are efficient, resilient, and built for speed, without ever compromising on the consumer experience. Amit has done this before, at real scale.”
Ember Cookware co-founder & CMO Himanshi Tandon added, “As we scale, supply chain efficiency becomes as important as product and brand. Amit’s mandate is to build the operational foundations that make our promise consistent at scale.”
Amit Singh commented, “Ember is building something genuinely different, a category-defining brand with a clear purpose and the ambition to match. I’m looking forward to building supply chain infrastructure that doesn’t just keep pace with growth, but enables it.”
The appointment forms part of Ember’s broader push to deepen leadership across key functions as it invests in its Innovation Lab, proprietary material technologies and operational backbone to support national expansion.
In a kitchenware world where non-stick promises are easy but delivery is hard, Ember isn’t just cooking up products, it’s cooking up an operation that keeps every promise sizzling from factory to fork.
