MAM
Kaunsal takes centre screen as NMH’s new marketing head
MUMBAI: From customer care cubicles to commanding campaigns Ajit Singh Kaunsal’s journey has come full stream. Kaunsal has been appointed as vice president & head of marketing at New Media Holding (NMH), a move he confirmed via a Linkedin post. In his new role, he will helm the marketing strategy for one of India’s most dynamic digital media ecosystems home to brands like One Digital Entertainment, Blush, Being Indian, Instant Bollywood, and Social Nation, among others.
With over 20 years of experience in media, research, and digital growth, Kaunsal brings a toolkit honed across major media houses. Most recently, he spent five years at MX Player, navigating the platform through intense competition in the OTT space. Before that, he clocked nearly six years at Sony Pictures Networks India, where he shaped digital and analytics strategies for SonyLIV, helping steer its early digital transition.
But it wasn’t all front row from the start. Kaunsal began his career in 2005 as a customer service agent at First Source Pvt. Ltd., before stints at Harapa International and TAM Media Research. That hands-on foundation spanning data, customer experience, and content makes him a uniquely well-rounded fit for a company as multifaceted as NMH.
NMH, with its diverse play across content, creators, and commerce, is at the centre of India’s evolving media zeitgeist. Kaunsal’s appointment signals a sharper focus on marketing leadership as the company scales its brand ecosystem and influence in pop culture and the creator economy.
In a digital-first world where attention is currency, Kaunsal’s brief is clear: keep NMH at the top of feed and mind.
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.
