MAM
IMD acquires eBus, forms strategic tie-up with Aidem
MUMBAI: London headquartered media logistics firm IMD has acquired eBus Media Network to create a substantial worldwide footprint for digital TV ad delivery, with a local presence across major countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific and a regional HQ in Singapore.
eBus has a presence in Singapore, Australia, and in India through joint-venture with media consulting, marketing and ad sales company.
The acquisition will also strengthen IMD‘s reach of digital TV ad delivery in the Asia-Pacific market, where eBus has established a reputation as a reliable and fast TV ad delivery provider in the region.
IMD has also formed a strategic partnership with Aidem which will enhance the way the latter works with eBus and allowing IMD and Aidem to work together, more broadly.
“The management and stakeholders of all three companies support these new arrangements and are excited about their prospects and all the parties are committed to work together for the long term,” Aidem Ventures EVP Kaushal Dalal.
The new combined IMD and eBus entity will bring a faster and more efficient digital delivery solution from a single provider to the increasing number of customers that have interests in Global delivery solutions, according to a statement from Aidem.
IMD CEO Simon Cox said, “eBus fits amazingly well with IMD in so many ways; it‘s territorially complementary, it‘s very focused on TV ad delivery just like IMD and we have the same cultural and customer-service driven values. On top of that, eBus has a brilliant technology platform created by an exceptionally talented team.”
For its India activities, eBus has been in a joint venture with Aidem since 2010, and has built a network of broadcasters for digital delivery and distribution of television commercials. It is a Cloud Computing technology company providing HDTV commercial distribution to TV, IPTV, Web and Mobile providers across Asia Pacific.
eBus CEO Carmine Masiello said, “IMD‘s investment in eBus will speed up our expansion in the Asia Pacific region. We look forward to being supported by a shareholder that combines financial strength with an intimate understanding of what we do and who we are.”
Aidem Ventures director Vikas Khanchandani said, “eBus already has a Pan-India presence with over 250 channels as destinations and around 200 advertisers using the service. With IMD‘s support this coverage is set to grow wider and faster. This acquisition of eBus by IMD will help us scale up our operations in accordance with this dynamic broadcast industry and constantly innovate to keep pace with the same.”
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.
