MAM
JCDecaux signs 10-year Delhi Airport Metro Express Line ad deal
MUMBAI: Global outdoor advertising company JCDecaux’s India arm has signed an exclusive 10-year contract for the operation of the Delhi Airport Metro Express advertising network.
The contract is effective from 1 April and covers both indoor and outdoor locations, further strengthening the transport media portfolio operated by the agency in India.
JCDecaux India has the exclusive advertising rights for Bengaluru International Airport as well.
A spokesperson of Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt. Ltd. said: “We are confident that with its international expertise and track record in operating the leading airports and metro concessions, JCDecaux will offer high-quality services to advertisers and an enhanced experience for airport passengers.”
JCDecaux chairman of the executive board and co-CEO Jean-Charles Decaux said, “We are delighted to have signed the contract for the India’s first airport express metro. This new contract further strengthens our transport portfolio in India. The Delhi Airport Metro Express will become a showcase for advertising excellence in the urban community of Delhi, thanks to the quality and diversity of the advertising solutions that we will introduce.”
Globally, JCDecaux operates advertising concessions at major airport metro lines such as the Heathrow Express (London) and Airport Express (Hong Kong). The new contract underlines the relevance and creative excellence of JCDecaux’s portfolio of products in metro networks around the world and further consolidates its leadership. This contract strengthens JCDecaux’s leading position in the Delhi OOH market where it currently operates Street Furniture with 800 bus shelters.
“Delhi Airport Metro Express reduces the travelling time for passengers travelling to the airport, providing a world-class experience on a par with networks such as the Hong Kong Airport Express and Heathrow Express. Covering 23 kilometres, Delhi Airport Metro Express Line runs on a dedicated elevated and underground corridor, delivering the highest levels of comfort for the public,” an official release said.
It caters to the same target audience as Terminal 3 and Terminal 1D at Indira Gandhi International Airport as the most convenient way for passengers to reach the airport. “With the elevated corridor, piers, pillars and gantries, this line offers the most impactful outdoor locations on the road leading to the airport. This will also ensure coverage of the traffic moving to and from the airport,” the release added.
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.
