GECs
GECs go patriotic this Independence Day!
MUMBAI: With a long weekend stretching ahead, Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) don’t want to miss the opportunity to keep people inside their homes. Come 15 August, along with the whole of India, GECs will also celebrate the 68th Independence Day.
Commemorating the upcoming Independence Day, Colors has planned a special two-hour recorded event titled Jashn-E-Azaadi that will display India’s rich culture from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
A dose of humour will be given by popular comedian Kapil Sharma with gags and parody by the entire cast of Comedy Nights with Kapil (CNWK). Along with the CNWK cast, other artists who will be seen performing on the latkas and jhatkas are Eijaz Khan, Sophie Chowdhry, Karan Wahi, Dadi as dadi, Vishal Singh (representing Punjab), Rashmi Desai, Shakti Mohan (representing UP), Karishma Tanna (representing Gujarat) and Akshat (representing South). It will air twice on Independence day- 1pm to 3pm and from 5pm to 7pm.
Apart from the special event, the theme of I-Day will be reflected in Balika Vadhu also, where Shiv will save the CM who’s going to be assassinated through a ticker bomb at an Inauguration ceremony held on 15 August.
Talking about Sony Entertainment Television, it will celebrate Independence Day on 15 August and 16 August at 10pm. A special episode of its oldest and highest rated properties – CID will show a terrorist attack.
Talking about Star Plus’s sister channel Life OK, it will celebrate the flavor of Independence with Bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor Khan on the very famous Life OK Now Awards. With Independence as the central theme, viewers will see some spectacular performances by some of the biggest names in Bollywood and television. The anchors for the evening Chintu aka Sunil Grover and Varun Sharma, will keep everyone in splits with their gags and comic timing.
The audience will get to witness some power packed performances that wont only kept them entertained, but also brought out the spirit of patriotism. Actors who will perform include Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Arya, Esha Gupta, Prateek and Sneha.
While media planners says that channels witness a 10-15 per cent hike in their revenues during special occasions like Holi, Women’s Day and Valentine’s Day, for Independence Day, channels which have a special line up plan earn some extra bucks, but regular programming does not see a huge shift or hike in the revenues.
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.
