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NBCU promotes Dumeay, Burnett to expand pay-TV channels
MUMBAI: Laurent Dumeau and John Burnett have been promoted to new roles to support the continued expansion of NBC Universal’s international pay-TV channels.
The announcement was made by Universal Networks International and Digital Initiatives president Roma Khanna to whom they now report. The appointments are effective immediately.
Dumeau is appointed VP, global affiliate sales. In his new role, Laurent will have oversight of global affiliate sales and strategy, working closely with local and regional managing directors.
Burnett is VP, commercial operations and will now control and manage Universal Networks’ continued growth plan including the planning and delivery of new channels and other key commercial projects across all regions.
The focus for these two new roles will be to set a commercial and strategic framework for Universal Networks International’s ongoing expansion towards 100 channels.
Khanna commented, “Laurent and John’s newly focussed global roles will ensure we deliver on our aggressive and exciting growth plans for 2010 and beyond. Their combined experience will be central to providing great service and support to our affiliates and customers across all our territories.”
The appointments follow the recent unveiling of Universal Networks International’s five revitalised core channel brands to deliver compelling quality content to audiences across the world. The first core channels to launch in January 2010 were Syfy Universal in France and 13th Street Universal in Australia to great local audience acclaim. Further Q1 brand launches include Syfy Universal in Benelux and Spain and Universal Channel in Africa, the number one international channel in the region.
Concurrently, Universal Networks continues its rollout of HD channels as a strategic priority in 2010, having already launched in UK, France, Japan and Portugal.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
