GECs
Disney-Fox merger sees more layoffs: Report
MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Studios (Disney) 21st Century Fox (Fox) merger continues to cost jobs with another round of layoffs this week. A large number of employees have been laid off from both sides. Since Disney completed its $71.3 billion acquisition of much of Fox, nearly 250 people have exited so far.
A report from Variety revealed that the latest round of layoff comes in the backdrop of analysts’ prediction of more than 1000 jobs being eliminated due to the merger. According to the report, the latest episode has mainly impacted the production and visual effects departments.
Visual effects head John Kilkenny, feature production executive VP Fred Baron, physical production executive VP Dana Belcastro and post-production executive VP Fred Chandler are among the executives who have received pink slips on the Fox side. Those roles reported to Fox film production vice chairman and president Emma Watts prior to the acquisition. Although Disney has enacted three previous rounds of layoffs mostly impacting Fox staffers, severance packages have been generous.
Disney also informed its staffs that it would shut Fox Research Library on or before 6 January 2020. Fox Library’s content would be integrated into Disney’s own archives. While the teams at the Walt Disney Archives (founded 1970) and the Imagineering Research Library will be evaluating and handling the collection, it is not clear yet if the library’s archivists will also be laid off.
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.
