GECs
Shutters down on Life OK’s ‘Do Dil Ek Jaan’
MUMBAI: Recently, Star Plus announced that it will be extending its weekday programming till Saturday.
The team at Life OK, the second GEC from the Star Network, seems to be following suit. The channel plans to increase the telecast time of two of its popular fiction shows – Gustakh Dil and Tumhari Paakhi – to one hour. The move comes after the channel’s decision to pull the curtains down on Nautanki Films’ Do Dil Ek Jaan on 24 January.
The producer of the show, Saurabh Tewari confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com and said: “May be, the characters of the show did not click with the audiences and it resulted in poor TVTs and thus we had no option but to pull the curtains down.”
However, the two shows that will fill the void have been doing really well and thus they will now air for an hour each. Gustakh Dil which airs at 7.30 pm will now be telecast from 7-8 pm; and Tumhari Paakhi which currently airs at 9.30 pm, will be telecast from 9-10 pm from 27 January onwards.
The two shows have registered 1,930 and 2,130 TVTs respectively in the Week 3 of TAM TV ratings.
However, when we contacted the producers of the two shows, they were unavailable to comment.
But a source from the channel reveals that the decision has been taken as the channel doesn’t plan to launch any new shows for the next two to three months. Says the source: “The shows are doing really well and I hope the viewers won’t be complaining.”
Even media planners think this to be a good move, not just for the channel but also the advertisers. However, some feel that there are chances of people switching to other programmes during the telecast of the show as they would not like to miss the shows they are used to watching during that time slot.
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.
