MAM
OVERDRIVE celebrates 26 years of legacy with a special anniversary edition
Mumbai: Celebrating 26 years of legacy as India’s largest auto media platform, OVERDRIVE’s special anniversary edition highlights its unparalleled impact on the auto industry.
Over the years, OVERDRIVE has established itself as India’s largest auto media for the bike & car community, providing in-depth reviews, helpful tips, step-by-step guides and expert advice. It has covered the evolution of the Indian automotive industry, from the rise of homegrown brands to the advent of cutting-edge technology and sustainable mobility solutions. The platform enjoys a robust presence across print, web and television.
Reflecting on OVERDRIVE’s journey, OVERDRIVE editor Kranti Sambhav said, “A pioneer in automotive journalism, OVERDRIVE has been informing and inspiring generations of enthusiasts for the last 26 years. Despite the fast-changing media landscape, our commitment to honest unbiased coverage remains unwavering. We’re more than just a magazine – we’re a community. The team is hopeful that this community will grow even faster with our upcoming initiatives.”
To commemorate the milestone, the September 2024 issue of OVERDRIVE features exclusive content showcasing the best in automotive journalism. Along with in-depth reviews of the Mahindra Thar Roxx, Citroën Basalt and Tata Curvv, the edition also features an exclusive drive review of the Lamborghini Revuelto and an in-depth comparative review of the Swift and its rivals, dissecting the dynamics of the ever-competitive hatchback segment. For those with a taste for luxury, the anniversary edition has a feature on the opulence of the Mercedes-Benz Maybach GLS and the locally assembled Range Rover. A comparative review of three of the most anticipated motorcycles in India – the Guerrilla 450, Speed 400, and Mavrick 440, provides readers with a head-to-head analysis of the new models.
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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.
