MAM
Mumbai Indians ‘DilKholKe welcome nine IPL franchises
Mumbai: Ahead of the much anticipated first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) set to be played on 26 March here, the Reliance Industries-owned franchise Mumbai Indians has gone all out to welcome the fellow nine franchises to its home city.
The #WelcomeDilKholKe billboards, customised to each of the visiting teams, have been set up across key locations in the city and uses a creative rendition to bring alive the spirit of sports, excitement and affection.
The campaign celebrates the spirit of Mumbai, the camaraderie of the teams and showcases their passion for sports. A dash of yellow to ‘Welcome Chennai Super Kings – Whistle Podu Dil Khol Ke,’ while Kolkata Knight Riders are welcomed to the city with their iconic ‘Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Dil Khol Ke’ slogan.
These warm heartfelt messages are greeting players, officials and the fans of each of these franchises representing different parts of the country as they set base across Mumbai for the IPL 2022. There is anticipation in the air, as fans, too, look forward to returning with fervour into the stadium to support their teams.
“The billboards installed across the city capture the creative expressions of the spirit of Mumbai – the city of dreams which welcomes every individual to its land of opportunity,” Mumbai Indians spokesperson said. “We, Mumbai Indians are a reflection of the city, its ethos and this campaign is a tribute to the warmth of the people of Mumbai in welcoming all the franchises of our IPL family.”
“With IPL back in India and Mumbai, Mumbai Indians look forward to welcoming its loyal blue & gold Paltan back to the stadiums. We take pride in having one of the most passionate fan army – the Paltan who have backed the team for a decade and more with their unrelenting energy and enthusiasm.”
The fifteenth edition of the T20 League is set to be played across Mumbai and Pune. Mumbai Indians will start their campaign against Delhi Capitals at Brabourne Stadium on 27 March.
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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.
