MAM
Star Sports ups the glamour quotient for HIL with Akshay Kumar tie-up
MUMBAI: Star Sports, Asia‘s leading sports broadcaster, has entered into a promotional tie-up with leading Bollywood Superstar Akshay Kumar for the first edition of Hockey India League (HIL).
Akshay Kumar who is popularly known for his blockbuster Bollywood hits and hard hitting action roles will be promoting the league through specially crafted promotional spots. He will also use this opportunity to promote his upcoming movie ‘Special 26‘. The movie is scheduled to be released on 8 February.
ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik said, “We are delighted to be associated with Akshay Kumar for Hockey India League. We will leverage the India England ODI series to promote this association. Akshay will be seen in specially crafted promotional spots for HHIL which will be played during the 4th ODI while a special on-air integration is being planned for the last ODI as well.”
Prior to the commencement of the tournament, Star Sports had unveiled former India cricketer and Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu as the brand ambassador for the Hero Hockey India League.
For providing viewers with a sharp, incisive and engaging view of the game both in Hindi and English language, Star Sports has put in place an illustrious panel of experts comprising former hockey players who are doing commentary on live telecast as well as pre and post-match analysis throughout the league.
The Hindi commentary panel includes eminent former Indian Hockey players like Mir Ranjan Negi, Jugraj Singh, Deepak Thakur, Mohammed Shahid and Pargat Singh. The English commentary panel comprises of Viren Rasquinha, Cedric D‘Souza, AB Subbaiah and Sandeep Somesh.
As official broadcasters for the HHIL, Star Sports is showcasing hockey in a completely new avatar offering a TV experience relevant to India‘s young sports audience. The channel also has HD production supported by new camera angles for sharper imagery to sustain viewer interest through the league.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) sanctioned ‘Hero Hockey India League‘ is a truly global league with players from as many as 11 countries. The first edition has witnessed participation from 5 teams namely Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Delhi Waveriders, Mumbai Magicians and Ranchi Rhinos.
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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.
