MAM
Starcom CEO Mallikarjun Das quits
MUMBAI: After leading Starcom India through an era of strong growth and rapid transformation, Group CEO Mallikarjun Das has decided to move on from the organisation. Das had joined Starcom India as CEO in 2011.
The agency will be making an announcement shortly on new leadership for Starcom India.
“Working at Starcom over the last seven years has been a peak experience–it has left an indelible impression on me and shaped me as a professional and individual,” Das said.
In a career spanning 20 years, Das has donned several hats. Prior to Starcom, he was COO, Madison Media Infinity.
He added, “Wisdom of hindsight is a dangerous thing, but I count myself lucky to have had large, complex business challenges come my way in this stint. I have had the full support of my team, Anupriya and my previous bosses in facing up to these challenges. Our results speak for themselves – Starcom India has grown four times the last 4 years; our India operations ended 2017 as Starcom’s Global Office of the year. I wish everyone at Starcom and Publicis Media all the best for the future.”
Publicis Media India Group CEO Anupriya Acharya said, “We are going to miss Das. His tenure at Starcom has been exemplary and working with him has been a wonderful experience. Starcom has had a phenomenal journey under his leadership and he has made a tremendous contribution to giving a strong foundation to Publicis Media too. Our best wishes are with him for his next assignment.”
In a previous stint, Das has been a simulations modeler with Tata Interactive Systems where he headed the modelling practice in building simulations and games. He has worked as the Head on the P&G Planning AOR at Starcom and spent 3 years at Asian Paints as Head of Media, Market Research, Activation & PR.
Das holds a Graduate Degree in Statistics & is a Post Graduate in Management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.
MAM
Debkumar Dasgupta joins Dangal TV as Head of Syndication
Veteran broadcast executive to drive international and national content sales
MUMBAI: Debkumar Dasgupta, a seasoned broadcast media professional with over 30 years in the industry, has taken charge as head of syndication at Dangal TV, overseeing both international and national markets.
Dangal TV, owned by Enterr10 Television Network, is a popular 24-hour Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC). Launched in 2009 originally for Bhojpuri movies, it has since pivoted to Hindi entertainment, with a focus on family dramas, mythology, and crime shows catering to both urban and rural audiences.
Dasgupta brings a formidable track record in content acquisition, syndication sales, and P&L management across ME, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. His career spans top media organisations including IndiaCast Media, Viacom18, MTV Networks, Catvision Products and Tee-Men’s.
Most recently, he was with GoQuest Media as group partnership and strategy head, managing partnerships and monetisation strategies across the region. He also served as vice president – content acquisition and partnership for Asia and Africa, negotiating deals for Turkish dramas and other high-demand content.
Earlier stints include senior vice president and business head roles at IndiaCast Media Distribution, steering ME&A and global syndication sales, and boosting the reach of Viacom18 channels such as Colors, MTV India, Colors Rishtey and News18 India across Asia-Pacific, South Asia, ME, Africa, CIS, CEE and Latin America.
Dasgupta began his media journey as senior director – network development at MTV Networks India, managing channel carriage and affiliate revenues, before moving into content sales and international business with Viacom18. He started in cable TV sales with Catvision Limited, handling nationwide dealer and distributor networks.
Known as a creative change agent, Dasgupta has consistently driven revenue growth, market share expansion, and efficiency improvements, combining deep market insights with hands-on leadership.
With his global expertise and strong cross-functional experience across sales, legal, marketing, programming, logistics and finance, Dangal TV is set to strengthen its content syndication footprint and expand its international reach under his leadership.
Dasgupta’s appointment signals an aggressive push to leverage ethnic content opportunities and emerging markets, ensuring Dangal TV keeps pace in an increasingly competitive broadcast ecosystem.
