GECs
Openwave Systems to support for Mobile TV technology
MUMBAI: The California-headquartered Openwave Systems Inc., provider of open software products and services for the communications and media industry, is planning to co-market and support mobile television services integrated with the Openwave Mobile Integrated Dynamic Application System (MIDAS) environment.
As part of Openwave’s mobile TV initiative, the company is engaging with two mobile television providers, IceTV, who delivers live TV broadcasts and custom programming developed specifically for handhelds, and Nexage, a leading wireless and multimedia software and services company that recently announced its PhoneCast mobile video solution. The companies will work with Openwave to enable operators to deliver real-time and video on demand to MIDAS handsets.
“Mobile TV services offered through MIDAS, will afford operators the benefits of a high quality mobile television service that is easily accessible and can be personalized based on the preferences of various consumer segments,” said Olivier Bartholot, head of the client business unit at Openwave. “We look forward to further developing the relationships with both IceTV and Nexage and ensuring that we enable our operator customers to bring to market mobile television services that are rich, compelling and easy to use.”
Midas provides a flexible user experience layer that links to underlying handset resources, enabling a powerful new way to design and deliver services, like mobile television. IceTV, which stands for Interactive Communications and Entertainment TV, enables mobile phone users to watch their favourite local channels and cable television shows live on their mobile devices, anywhere there is a wireless data signal available. Nexage’s PhoneCast software platform offers a mobile video solution for operators, content providers and media companies, allowing customers to watch live TV, live events and sportscasts, and video on demand content on their mobile phones globally.
“We’re excited to be deploying a high-quality, personalized mobile television experience that is simple for operators to implement and will allow broadcasters to increase viewership and offer targeted interactive marketing to their advertisers,” said IceTV president & CEO Bill Stack. “Working with Openwave to include our service on Midas handsets will enable us to bring our mobile television services to market faster and integrate with operators easier.”
“With its proven experience in bringing mobile content to the mass market, Openwave will be an asset to us as we look to bring our mobile television services to operators around the world,” said Nexage CEO Devkumar Gandhi. “The marriage of our two solutions would be a natural fit for operators who are looking to quickly deploy powerful new entertainment services, like mobile television, live events and video on demand to mass market multimedia phones.”
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.
