GECs
CRY to organise telethon on 26 Jan; to air on Sony
MUMBAI: Child Relief and You (CRY) will conduct a fund-raising Telethon to involve the entire nation in the movement for Child Rights on Republic Day. The Telethon will be broadcast live on Sony Entertainment Television from 12 pm to 7 pm on 26 January.
This seven-hour show will be hosted by celebrities from different fields (movies, sports, the arts and industry). Some of the celebrities to be a part of this unique show are Shah Rukh Khan, Raveena Tandon, Jagjit Singh, Shaan, Pallavi Joshi, Bipasha Basu, Pankaj Udhas, Farooque Sheikh, Diana Hayden, Jehangir Sabavala, Rahul Bose, John Abraham, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Mohinder Amarnath and Harsha Bhogle, informs a CRY release.
India’s favorite stars will pledge support to children, perform entertaining acts and appeal to their fans to contribute time or money towards changing children’s lives. Viewers will be able to participate through telephone line, SMS, credit cards or the Internet.
“Too often we’re daunted into apathy by the staggering scale of the problems we face as a nation. CRY has learnt over 25 years that tangible, irreversible change is not only possible, but inevitable, when ordinary individuals come together. The telethon is our attempt to include as many Indians as we can in this freedom movement for the rights of our children. The money we hope to raise will change the lives of thousands of children forever.” Says CRY CEO Ingrid Srinath. “As importantly though, we believe it will help inspire people to believe in the possibility of each of us making a difference,” she adds.
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.
