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Devika Prabhu joins Sony Pictures Networks India as business head – Hindi movies
Former Disney Star executive returns to SPNI to steer the network’s Hindi movie business
MUMBAI: Devika Prabhu is heading back to familiar turf. The veteran media executive has joined Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) as business head – Hindi movies, marking a return to the broadcaster where she began her early leadership journey.
Prabhu announced the move on LinkedIn, calling it both a new beginning and a homecoming. Earlier in her career, she spent several years at SPNI—then Multi Screen Media—working on strategic planning for Sony Entertainment Television.
The appointment brings to SPNI a media strategist with more than 25 years of experience across content, programming, brand strategy and platform growth. Most recently, Prabhu served at Disney Star as vice-president and business head – kids, youth and infotainment TV, where she led the Disney Kids and National Geographic portfolios following the Disney–Fox merger.
During her tenure, she oversaw a Rs 400-crore P&L while pushing digital expansion, partnerships and operational efficiencies. Earlier roles at Disney Star included leadership across programming, acquisitions, marketing and product strategy for multiple networks, including the UTV movie channels and youth brands.
Prabhu’s career has also spanned building cross-platform intellectual property, developing kids and family content ecosystems, and forging international format partnerships. She was closely involved in bringing global formats and franchises to Indian audiences and is widely credited with helping shape India’s anime fandom into a mainstream youth phenomenon.
At SPNI, she will now lead the Hindi movies business at a time when film channels are rethinking their role in a fragmented viewing landscape. With audiences discovering cinema across television, streaming and digital platforms, the challenge is not just programming films but reimagining how they reach viewers.
Prabhu believes movies still hold a unique cultural power, sparking conversations and creating shared moments long after the credits roll.
Now back where part of her journey began, she is set to write the next act, this time from the business seat of Hindi movie television. Lights, camera, strategy.
People
Times Now ropes in Zakka Jacob as managing editor; Navika Kumar to take up consulting editor role
Senior newsroom reshuffle sees Jacob exit News18; Kumar steps into expanded editorial leadership role
NEW DELHI: In a high-profile newsroom reshuffle, Zakka Jacob is set to move from News18 to Times Now as managing editor, according to media reports. He is expected to assume the new role in April, marking a fresh chapter in a career that has long straddled the studio floor and the global affairs beat.
At CNN-News18, Jacob most recently served as senior anchor and group foreign affairs editor, a role he took up in December 2015. Over the years, he became a familiar face for viewers tracking international flashpoints and diplomatic crosscurrents. He had earlier served as managing editor at the channel before choosing to focus more closely on hands-on journalism and anchoring.
His move to Times Now signals a return to executive leadership, this time at a network known for its combative prime-time presence and political edge.
Meanwhile, Navika Kumar will step into the role of consulting editor. A seasoned political journalist and one of the prominent faces of Times Now, Kumar is known for her sharp interviews and high-voltage election coverage. Her elevation formalises a leadership position she has long appeared to occupy on screen.
Jacob’s career spans more than a decade across editorial and anchoring roles. He has served as managing editor and output editor at CNN-News18, and earlier worked as senior anchor at China Central Television. An engineering graduate from the University of Madras, he brings a methodical mind to the often chaotic theatre of television news.
With April on the horizon, the move sets the stage for a new newsroom equation, and perhaps a new tone at the top. In the world of television news, the faces may be familiar, but the script is always being rewritten.
