GECs
Cartoon Network US goes underwater
MUMBAI: Looking to expand its base in the 6-11 year age group Cartoon Network US has anounced a new programme block Miguzi. This will kick off on 19 April and wil air on weekdays from 5-7 pm with the aim of catching the kids after they return from school.
The new block will be built around a new undersea environment, where kids will find compelling action-adventure programming. Miguzi will also feature live-action segments profiling entertainers, athletes and everyday heroes who are inspirational, unique and talented. The aim of these pieces is to further bridge the gap between real life action-adventure and animation. This means that Toonami will move to Saturday evenings.
Cartoon Network worldwide executive VP, GM Jim Samples was quoted in a company release saying, “This new block conveys an environment that’s both exciting and inclusive, where kids can come each day after school for cutting-edge programming. We’ve acquired some great new series, which we will match with popular Cartoon Network original shows.”
Miguzi is set on an abandoned spaceship buried in the ocean. Each day, The Leviathan, a giant sea monster, transports Erin, the franshise’s host, to the submersed ship. Once inside the spaceship, Erin and the sea creatures all settle in to watch the shows, when the fun begins.
The block will comprise of four shows. The first is Totally Spies . The main characters Sam, Clover and Alex are three ordinary teenagers from Beverly Hills who happen to work for the World Organization of Human Protection (whoop). One moment, these three teens could be shopping at the mall or studying for exams, and the next they are summoned by Jerry, their leader, and dispatched across the globe on a top-secret mission. Code Lyoko tells the adventures of a group of students who are the only ones who know that there is a parallel, virtual world called Lyoko.
The third show is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . The four turtles – Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo – use their new skills to battle the evil Shredder and The Foot Clan, his formidable legion of ninja warriors.
Finally the Teen Titans will be led by Robin. This group of five superheroes unites to form a force to protect their teeming, sun-baked city from a new generation of villains while coping with the challenges of adolescence.
Talking about the revised Toonami schedule Samples added, ” We are putting our top action and animé series for the new Toonami block and keeping it fresh each week with premieres. We know that teens hang out together on Saturday nights to watch their favourite shows. So we’re giving them what they’re asking for – a night exclusively dedicated to the coolest action and animé programming.”
One of the new shows that will launch in this slot is Megas XLR. It will premiere on 1 May at 9 pm. When a video-game playing, wrestling fanatic named Coop finds a giant robot in his local New Jersey dump, he does what any other gear-head slacker would do: he soups up the eighty-foot tall robot into a mechanical hot-rod monstrosity named Megas XLR. What he doesn’t count on is being asked to save the Earth from a race of evil aliens from the future.
In December the network will add Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi to its lineup. This follows the adventures of the pop stars as they travel from one gig to the next or hang out in their hometown of Tokyo. The show will also feature live-action segments starring the real life singing duo. Atomic Betty deals with a sweet and brainy girl next door who when the galaxy beckons, sheds her humdrum persona to becomes the title character. A report on the broadcaster’s site states that the show will debut in September.
GECs
ZEEL overhauls sales structure to chase growth across TV and digital platforms
New structure sharpens digital push as viewing habits fragment fast
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is reshuffling its sales playbook as it looks to keep pace with a fast-changing media landscape, where audiences are scattered, screens are multiplying and advertisers are following the data.
According to media reports, the rejig is anchored in the company’s push to build a more integrated, data-led monetisation engine, one that can straddle both traditional television and fast-growing digital platforms with equal ease.
At the heart of the move is a reworked sales architecture designed to deliver cross-platform solutions. With connected TV gaining ground and digital consumption surging, ZEEL is aligning its teams to move quicker, think broader and sell smarter.
The restructuring is being led by chief operating officer, advertisement revenue, Sandeep Mehrotra, at a time when the company says it is seeing tremendous growth. The idea is simple: match the right talent to the right opportunity in a market that is anything but static.
As part of the overhaul, several long-serving executives have been elevated to chief sales officer roles across regions and content clusters. Sanjoy Chatterjee will head the east market, while Gunjarav Nayak takes charge of the west along with high-margin verticals such as hmg, brand works, intellectual properties and digital sales. Rajnish Gupta will oversee bengaluru and chennai markets alongside the kannada and tamil clusters.
In other key moves, Divjyot Dhanda will lead hyderabad and kochi markets and manage zee tv, zee keralam and the telugu cluster. Roshan Vasu Kotian will supervise a diverse portfolio including Zee Marathi, &tv, Zee Punjabi, Zee Anmol, Big Magic and Zee Biskope.
The company is also strengthening its bench, appointing national sales heads across retail, regional clusters, digital and brand solutions. Ankur Kapila’s appointment to lead digital sales signals a sharper push into a segment that continues to outpace traditional formats.
Behind the scenes, dedicated strategy and operations roles have been carved out for both linear and digital businesses. Nitin Shetty, Rajkiran Shrivastav and Priya Nambiar will take on key responsibilities to ensure the new structure runs with precision.
The broader aim is clear. ZEEL wants a bigger slice of advertising budgets that are steadily drifting towards digital and connected TV ecosystems. By integrating its offerings, the company hopes to deepen client relationships while unlocking new revenue streams.
The new structure takes effect immediately, with Mehrotra continuing to report to chief executive officer Punit Goenka and steer the company’s advertising revenue strategy. Senior executive Laxmi Shetty will support the transition, with her revised role expected to be announced soon.
In a market where content is everywhere but attention is scarce, ZEEL’s latest move is less about rearranging the org chart and more about staying in the game.
