iWorld
Eros Digital ropes in former Google exec Ali Hussein as COO
MUMBAI: Kishore Lulla-Rishika Lulla Singh-run Eros Digital is muscling up. The digital content streaming and distribution company has signed up former Google and You Tube executive Ali Hussein as chief operating officer (COO). Rishika Lulla Singh is the CEO of the company.
Hussein will be spearheading Eros’ digital initiatives including Eros Now, its cutting-edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform.
Hussein is a co-owner of Monozygotic Productions promoted by Rajiv and Raghu Lakshman, Rajiv Luthria, Siddharth and Rahul Tewary (of Swastik Productions). Sources indicate Hussein will continue to retain his substantial stake in the company. Monozygotic is behind reality show MTV Drop Out Pvt Ltd, which was launched last year.
Rishika Lulla Singh said, “We are delighted to have Ali join the leadership team at Eros. The impact of digital technology on media consumption is growing at a rapid space, making this sector one of the most exciting in present times. At ErosNow, we are in a robust growth phase and continue to reinvent ourselves as a digital company. With Ali’s experience in media, entertainment and the digital space, we look forward to further capitalising our digital expansion strategy and I wish him all the best.”
Prior to Monozygotic, Hussein was head of media partnerships, You Tube, where he spent around two and a half years. Before YouTube, he was assistant vice president of digital at Viacom18—looking after Nickelodeon, MTV and Colors—over a three and a half year period. And prior to that, Hussein was assistant general manager at Hungama Mobile.
Speaking on his appointment, Hussein said, “This is an exciting time for the Indian digital landscape and we are poised to become India’s largest digital entertainment company. I truly believe Eros Now is an established global player that is best positioned to leverage this space with the strength of its vast content library and dominant market share and I am very happy to be a part of this opportunity to take the company to the next level”.
Earlier this year, Eros Now, the group’s streaming app, had announced a five million paying subscriber base globally. Eros Now has partnered players worldwide to expand its offerings, including Amazon across the US and the UK, Roku in the US, Canada and the UK, and T-Mobile in the US. The company most recently partnered LG for its Smart TVs worldwide, apart from having deals with companies such as Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular in India.
Eros Now is slated to launch its original shows soon.
Also Read:
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2017: The year OTTs went regional in India
Eros reports higher profit margin despite fewer releases
iWorld
Tips Music CEO Hari Nair to step down
Girish Taurani and Sushant Dalmia to jointly steer the company as the hunt for a new chief begins
MUMBAI: A leadership shuffle is under way at Tips Music. Hari Nair, the company’s chief executive, will step down on April 30 as the music label begins the search for a successor.
The company said Girish Taurani, executive director, and Sushant Dalmia, chief financial officer, will jointly oversee operations during the transition while the board identifies a permanent replacement.
Nair joined Tips Music in 2023 and set about reshaping the veteran music label into a more digital, data-led enterprise. During his tenure, the company secured licensing and partnership deals with global platforms including Sony Music Publishing and TikTok, while renewing agreements with Warner Music Group.
Drawing on earlier experience in technology and entertainment, including a stint at ByteDance, Nair pushed the organisation towards a performance-driven culture. He built a brand partnerships division and introduced proprietary software systems aimed at strengthening digital distribution and data capabilities.
Kumar Taurani, chairman and managing director, credited Nair with embedding a data-led culture within the company and driving revenue growth in line with shareholder commitments.
In his resignation note, Nair said that after helping transition the label into a modern, digitally focused and process-driven organisation, the time had come to pursue his next leadership challenge.
The leadership change comes as the broader Tips Films group shows signs of financial stabilisation. In the third quarter of FY26 the company reported a net loss of Rs 2.86 crore, narrowing sharply from Rs 14.2 crore in the previous quarter. For the nine months ended December, losses stood at Rs 12.37 crore.
Yet revenue told a more volatile story. Income from operations slid to Rs 4 crore in Q3 FY26 from Rs 56 crore in the preceding quarter, taking total operating income to Rs 4.56 crore.
For a company built on a catalogue of more than 34,000 tracks and decades of Bollywood hits, the next chief will inherit both a digital engine and a volatile music market. The playlist may be familiar, but the next act at Tips Music is only just beginning.
