GECs
ETV and ETV2 switched to pay mode
MUMBAI: Eenadu Television (ETV) has taken two of its Telugu channels – ETV and ETV2 – pay with effect from 1 February.
The combined price of the channels is Rs 10. While ETV is a general entertainment channel, ETV2 is a news channel.
“We have priced the two channels at Rs 10. We will decide on our other channels at the appropriate time,” said a senior ETV executive.
ETV, which has a host of 11 satellite language channels, has only taken its Telugu channels pay. The other language channels are ETV Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Kannada, Urdu, Madhya Pradesh, Oriya, Gujarati, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.
The two pay channels, however, are free-to-air (FTA) in Chennai which is a conditional access system (CAS) market. “We haven’t decided yet whether we should stay FTA there. We are waiting for our local team’s report,” said the executive.
A few other pay channels have taken the strategic decision to stay FTA only for the Chennai market. Adithya and Teja News, both Telugu channels from the Sun Network stable, are not pay channels in Chennai. Pogo, the Hindi kids channel from the Cartoon Network stable, is also a FTA channel in Chennai.
ETV is using Homecast decoder boxes. The company’s internal distribution team will handle the two pay channels including its placement on cable TV networks.
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.
