MAM
SintecMedia buys Operative; creates largest SaaS TV, digital ad management offering
MUMBAI: Operative, Inc. today announced its acquisition by SintecMedia and the transaction would create largest SaaS TV and digital advertising management offering for media companies globally.
Since 2001, Operative Media, Inc. has developed software and services that help publishers, agencies, networks, and broadcasters simplify the business of advertising. Media companies rely on Operative to sell, traffic, and bill premium ad inventory, increasing revenue and decreasing overhead. Operative’s client base, which controls over 20 percent of the global ad market, features NBCUniversal, Wall Street Journal, Comcast, Clear Channel, BuzzFeed, and Schibsted
Operative Media, Inc., the global leader in digital advertising business management solutions for major media companies, said the company will be acquired by SintecMedia, a portfolio company of Francisco Partners. The combined company brings together TV and digital ad management for media companies and publishers worldwide. Operative’s management team, including Lorne Brown, the company’s founder, are also investors in the combined business. Brown will take the role of president and remain part of the strategic leadership team within SintecMedia.
“Operative’s fantastic customer base and digital advertising solutions are the perfect compliment to our own global client roster and television advertising products,” said SintecMedia CEO Amotz Yarden. “With Operative as a key part of our offering, SintecMedia brings TV and digital ad management together, allowing media companies to streamline advertising infrastructure, increase profitability and drive the long term strategic control of their business.”
SintecMedia is the world’s leading television advertising management technology company. Their advanced TV advertising products maximize yield and streamline operations across direct and programmatic television advertising. SintecMedia systems are used by hundreds of the largest television media companies in the world.
This year, according to eMarketer, US digital advertising spending will be US$ 72.09 billion, marking the first year that the digital advertising market matches television, with the global market following similar patterns in the near term. In addition to digital’s fast growth, television is rapidly embracing digital and data-driven elements, from smart TVs to audience-based media buying.
Without the right partners, the rapidly changing TV and digital advertising markets can increase cost and complexity for media companies, from managing yield across direct and programmatic sales to operations and billing. The combined offering from SintecMedia and Operative empowers media companies to ensure a profitable advertising business across channels by seamlessly connecting the most important parts of their ad business while minimizing drag and waste.
“SintecMedia’s acquisition of Operative is the best possible outcome for our clients and for all media companies working to maximize profitability as TV and digital channels start to intertwine,” said Operative’s incumbent CEO Brown. “We are thrilled to join the SintecMedia team and look forward to continuing to create solutions for media companies in the future.”
GCA Advisors, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor and Dentons US LLP, the world’s largest law firm, acted as legal advisor to Operative. Morris Manning and Martin, LLP acted as legal advisor to Francisco Partners and SintecMedia. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions including customary regulatory review.
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.
