GECs
Sony re-jigs weekend programming for ‘Indian Idol Junior’
MUMBAI: While it may not have found favour with audiences on its fiction fare recently, Sony Entertainment Television is all set to enthrall audiences with the second season of its popular singing reality show format – Indian Idol Junior.
The show, which will launch on 30 May, will be aired at 8.30 pm on weekends. With this, Adaalat, which was aired from 8 – 9 pm on Sony, will now get a new time slot and will be aired from 7.30 – 8.30 pm. Additionally, Bhanwar, which aired at 9 pm will be taken off air. The show’s last episode will be on 24 May.
Indian Idol Junior, this time round, will see the juniors paying a tribute to the maestros of Indian music at the season’s grand launch. With the success of the first season, Sony Entertainment Television is upbeat about giving talented youngsters this platform to exhibit their talent yet again.
What’s more, the talent quotient for this season has gone several notches higher with the inclusion of actor Sonakshi Sinha as one of the judges.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com at the launch of the show, Sony Entrainment Television senior executive vice president and business head Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “The unique thing about this show is that for the first time ever, we are using a celebrity i.e. Sonakshi Sinha as a representative of the common people. You normally find that the judges are experts in their own fields but with Sonakshi, we want to explore the connect further.”
“With the second edition of Indian Idol Junior, we intend to bring the entire family together and recreate the entertainment quotient of this season substantially while gifting the music industry with some really outstanding talent,” Pantvaidya added.
Sharing insights on her television debut, Sinha said, “Playback singing is unique to Indian cinema. For our films, music is as essential an entity as the story. With every era of movies, there has come a whole generation of musicians who have almost immortalized some movies through the music. I’m really excited and happy to be associated with Indian Idol Junior, a reality show that celebrates music and creates platform for young talent to follow their dreams and reach out to the stars.”
Sony Entertainment Television chief creative officer Ajay Bhalwankar added, “The whole selection process, auditions, theatre took about a year. The gala rounds episodes will go on for fourteen weeks and will have the normal voting system like previous formats.”
Fremantle Media India managing director Anupama Mandloi said, “It’s always been nice to work with this format. We have been doing it for years now and this time it’s special because we found talent across the country – north, south, east and west. Also in time to come, you will see what surprises this season will bring.”
Sony has brought on board three sponsors for the second season of Indian Idol Junior. While Horlicks is the ‘presenting’ sponsor, Lifebuoy and Aquaguard have associated with the show as ‘co-powered by’ sponsors.
Apart from Sinha, the show will have judges like Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and Shalmali Kholgade. It will be hosted by Hussain Kuwajerwala and Asha Negi.
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.
