GECs
Zee TV uncovers the invisible veil
MUMBAI: Zee TV, India’s largest media and entertainment conglomerate unveils the journey of one woman from darkness to light with its latest offering Saat Phere – Saloni Ka Safar. It is a story of prejudices and biases of an average Indian girl with an exceptional talent. As her story unfolds against the backdrop of atrocities like colour discrimination, dowry harassment, subjugation etc, it truly tells the tale of every Saloni scattered far and wide across our country. Beginning, 17 October, 2005, Saat Phere airs Monday – Friday, 9.30 pm.
Punit Goenka, Business Head, Zee TV opines, “For Zee TV, Saat Phere is not a mere serial. It’s a representation of issues and causes close to our heart that we attempt to bring across through the medium of popular entertainment. We believe that engrossing people urges them to start thinking and is a far better purveyor of change than didactic preaching can ever hope to be.”
Goenka further added, “Since Saat Phere is based on such a topical issue, the show will have a two-way flow of communication and viewer responses will affect the course of Saloni’s life. In the past also we have reached out our audiences through our landmark shows and I am confident that with Saat Phere we will not just entertain people but impact lives.”
About Saat Phere:
Despite being revered as goddesses and having our ancient history peppered with women who were great leaders and scholars, its no secret that in modern times, the various biases and prejudices faced by Indian women are more often ignored than addressed. One of the most baseless yet damning of these biases is the overriding pre-eminence of fairness, or a fair complexion. By the logic of antonym, dark skin is till today considered one of a woman’s biggest disadvantage; almost a curse.
Saat Phere is one such story of prejudices, biases and the journey of one woman from darkness (almost literally) to light. Saloni is an average (read: dark) Indian girl with an exceptional talent. But the shade of her melanin over-rides all her attributes. In a society where the girl’s worth is measured by how deep her spouse’s pockets are, being dark is generally considered a hindrance in finding a well-to-do groom.
“Who is going to marry you?” is a common refrain when a dark girl thinks of marriage. Saloni is no exception to this and spends her youth thinking that no one will ever marry her. But even when she does end up marrying someone, it all goes horribly wrong and therein she begins her journey to discover herself and her true potential despite all odds and blind myths.
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.
