GECs
Rediffusion to handle Zee no more
MUMBAI: It’s official now. Rediffusion DY&R has stopped handling corporate communications for Zee’s flagship channel Zee TV as well as Zee MGM and Zee English as of 1 September.
Clea PR however continues to handle Zee Cinema and Zee Music, which are headed by ETC promoter Yogesh Radhakrishnan. The decision to handle the PR for the Zee channels had been taken a few months ago, when the Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group decided to create a signature group under Corporate Brand Development Group (CBDG) for all the brands in the group as a corporate brand. Rediffusion however was handling the Zee accounts till recently.
While the brands that the new group will handle includes all Zee brands, Alpha brands, Playwin, Zee Education, Essel World, Water Kingdom, Fun Republic, Essel Propack Ltd., and the Agrani group, Zee Cinema and Zee Music have been left out of its ambit, at least for the time being.
The move has come almost in conjunction with the group’s decision to start subscribing to TAM data. The flagship Zee TV has recently launched its big ticket show of the year – Awaz – Dil Se Dil Tak and is scheduled to launch another – The Magic Make Up Box this Sunday. Last year’s innovative show, Jeena Isika Naam Hai, also returns in a new season to the channel this Friday.
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.
