MAM
Zee Cinema mulls 100% hike in ad rates
MUMBAI: Zee Cinema is getting aggressive. Having grown in viewership, the Hindi movie channel has decided to hike its ad rates by 100 per cent.
“We have made up our mind to activate a 100 per cent hike on our rates. We have already conveyed our plans to our clients and the planners,” Zee Cinema business head Bharat Ranga tells indiantelevision.com.
Behind this move is an expectation that the movie channel genre would further grow in viewership this year.
“While there was a 12 to 13 per cent increase in the audience share last year among all movie channels, the advertising revenue grew by only five to six per cent. The audience share is expected to grow by 25 to 30 per cent this year. Naturally, we sense a huge scope for growth on the ad revenue front,” says Ranga.
Advertisers aren’t fully convinced, though. Mediaedge: cia (Mumbai) GM Manas Misra feels that effecting such a huge hike would be a Herculean task for Zee Cinema because of the intense competition the genre is facing. “With the type of competition going on in the market place, this may not be an easy task for Zee Cinema. Obviously, it is leading in the genre. But at the same time, its competitors are also doing well,” he opines.
Ranga admits the task is to convince the advertisers. “They have a mindset issue. We have to convince the planners also. The whole process will take some time to complete,” he says.
Zee Cinema had brought a 30 per cent hike in its ad rates early this year. But the channel feels that it deserves a bigger increment. “That time, we didn’t increase the rates the way we should have. Zee Cinema, being the number one Hindi movie channel, deserves much more than what it is now getting. It is not an irrational price level we are looking at. I feel that a 100 per cent hike is justifiable,” says Ranga.
According to Ranga, Zee Cinema has been the number two revenue earner for Zee Network last fiscal, behind the flagship channel Zee TV. “Last fiscal, our ad revenues went up by 45 per cent while viewership recorded a 15 per cent increase,” he claims.
Brands
Boeing appoints Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering function
Seasoned finance leader to steer budgets and strategy across global centres
BENGALURU: Boeing’s finance cockpit has a new pilot, and he is no stranger to turbulence or transformation. Boeing has appointed Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering, placing him at the centre of financial strategy for its worldwide engineering and technology operations.
Based in Bengaluru, Barun steps into a role that is as expansive as it is critical. He will serve as the primary finance lead for Boeing’s Engineering and Technology Centers globally, working closely with executive leadership to shape financial decisions, manage complex budgets, and design scalable finance processes that support the company’s growing engineering footprint.
In a note announcing his move Barun said, “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Boeing Global Engineering. This opportunity is incredibly meaningful to me not just from a professional standpoint, but also for what Boeing represents globally.” He added that he looks forward to contributing to an organisation that continues to shape the future of aerospace and innovation.
Barun’s mandate spans strategic financial leadership, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement. From directing large-scale budgets and schedules to influencing long-term organisational goals, the role blends financial discipline with business foresight. He will also lead cross-functional teams and partner with finance colleagues worldwide to support engineering programmes across geographies, including India.
The appointment caps a long stint at Juniper Networks, where Barun spent over a decade, most recently as finance senior manager. There, he led FP&A for global product business units and G&A functions, driving budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning. He also played a key role in enterprise-wide transformation, including spearheading an Oracle to SAP ERP migration and building advanced analytics capabilities using tools such as Tableau and SAP Analytics Cloud.
His earlier career includes finance leadership roles at Sony India Software Centre, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Mphasis, where he focused on financial planning, governance frameworks, and operational efficiency across global delivery centres.
A chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Barun brings nearly two decades of experience across financial planning, digital transformation, and analytics-led decision making.
His appointment comes at a time when global engineering operations are becoming increasingly complex and distributed, requiring sharper financial oversight and agile planning. With Barun at the helm of FP&A for engineering, Boeing appears to be tightening its financial playbook as it looks to scale innovation with discipline.
