MAM
Comedy Central to push for revenue growth
MUMBAI: Comedy Central has roped in 30 advertisers after three months of launch and is looking at developing other revenue streams including on-ground events and licensing & merchandising.
The on-ground events will kick off from the second half of the year. “Comedy goes beyond standup act routines. The events will be a combination of small scale and larger properties. We are exploring ideas. The challenge lies in their execution and doing them in a way that makes economic sense,” says Viacom18 Media senior VP, GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia.
On the L&M front, Comedy Central will hope to capitalise from MTV and Nick, its two sister channels that have run longer in the Indian market. The channel will launch merchandise products for its show South Park in a couple of months.
Says Palia, “This will cover a range of products. Because of Comedy Central‘s TG (15-34 years), avenues for purchase may be different from what has been seen. Depending on how this works we could launch merchandise that pushes the Comedy Central brand.”
Comedy Central‘s first advertiser was Volkswagen. Now it has a roster of advertisers that include Jaguar, Nivea, Idea and Vodafone. “We are looking at doing innovations on TV and also outside it. This could take the shape of advertiser funded properties,” says Palia.
The focus in the first year will be to get the sales strategy right. “There have been times when we have refused business as we felt that we were not getting a fair rate. Advertisers are getting more receptive towards this genre,” avers Palia.
Content costs are a challenge with costs doubling in the last 18 months. “80 per cent of our content is acquired. 60 per cent of our content is old which is fine as comedy is evergreen. The balance 40 per cent is new content. We have managed to create a new genre,” says Palia.
Comedy Central is exploring the possibility of starting local productions. “The challenge though will be to find content that lives up to the international standards,” concludes Palia.
Brands
Manindra Mohan joins CoinDCX as SVP & head – data & analytics
Former Amazon and Unacademy analytics leader to scale crypto insights
MUMBAI: India’s crypto exchange CoinDCX has appointed Manindra Mohan as SVP and head of data and analytics, bringing on board a seasoned data strategist at a time when the country’s digital asset market is entering a decisive phase.
In his new role, he will steer enterprise-wide data science, analytics and business intelligence initiatives. His mandate spans product, growth, risk and customer experience, with a clear brief to embed data-led decision-making into the company’s core as it scales across India and beyond.
Announcing the move, Mohan said he was “thrilled” to join CoinDCX, calling the Indian crypto market pivotal and ripe with opportunity. He thanked co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, along with Mridul Gupta, for the opportunity to help shape what he described as the future of finance.
He noted that architecting data solutions for a 24 hour global asset class presents a formidable challenge. Yet, he added, the chance to redefine financial access and drive crypto adoption “across every pin code in India” makes the task compelling.
Mohan arrives with nearly two decades of experience across technology, media and digital platforms. Before CoinDCX, he served as head of data science, analytics and BI at Carousell Group. Prior to that, he was SVP and head of analytics at Unacademy, where he built and scaled the analytics and insights function supporting product, sales, marketing and finance teams.
His earlier stints include heading analytics for Amazon prime video in India, where he oversaw data across product, acquisition, engagement and content, as well as serving as senior manager data sciences and advanced analytics at VMware and senior manager marketing and digital analytics at Dell Technologies. He began his career as senior business analyst at Cognizant, working on large scale crm and analytics implementations for global clients.
Colleagues describe Mohan as a builder of teams as much as models. From managing global analytics rollouts to leading large cross functional units, he has consistently combined statistical rigour with commercial instinct.
At CoinDCX, that blend could prove timely. As crypto exchanges navigate regulation, volatility and rising user expectations, data is no longer a back office function. It is the compass. With Mohan at the helm of analytics, CoinDCX is betting that sharper insights will translate into deeper trust and broader adoption in a market that never sleeps.
