MAM
Magnite onboards Chandrahas Shetty as demand facilitation lead in India
Mumbai: Magnite has roped in Chandrahas Shetty as the demand facilitation lead in India. Shetty will lead the Magnite Demand Facilitation team in India, with a primary focus on building key strategic demand-side relationships with leading media agencies, DSPs and buyers in the country.
Magnite managing director Asia Gavin Buxton said, “Shetty joins us with vast experience across the ad tech industry and brings a track record of exceptional growth and effective results in India and APAC. We are excited to strengthen the team with his unique perspective, particularly as we look to accelerate our growth throughout India.”
Shetty joins Magnite from MediaMath where he was director of partnerships and successfully built out many of the company’s strategic DSP relationships. He brings a total of 13 years of experience to the role at Magnite, having previously held various senior positions at Oracle Advertising, Times Internet and Disney+ Hotstar.
Shetty commented, “I’m excited to be joining Magnite and leading the demand team in India. I look forward to working closely with the team to help deliver great results for buyers by ensuring they can leverage Magnite’s unique omnichannel capabilities to tap into quality content.”
Shetty joins the growing Magnite India team which includes senior account manager – supply Karnika Maroo, account manager – supply Jerit Kunjumon and senior account manager – Rohit Prasad Yeggina.
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
