Shobhana Nair profiles the men and women who make the media world go round.
It is often said that ‘Money makes the world go round’. It couldn’t be more true than in the case of the Indian media industry, where in the absence of significant subscription revenues, advertising sales revenues drive profits. On the television front, subscription revenues have just started to pour in after the much delayed digitization, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that ad sales revenues have actually been fuelling the media engine all this while. On the Print front too, a huge chunk of revenue comes from advertising.
Irrespective of the economic situation, media networks have been successful in roping in a large number of brands as advertisers over the years, convincing them about the media’s power to communicate the brand message effectively. Clearly, the business heads spearheading advertising sales revenues have a huge task on hand, which involves much more than dealing with ad inventory.
We profile these key drivers of success of prominent media institutions.
NOTE: *The revenue figures quoted here are for the financial year 2012-2013, based on financial results and industry estimates.
* Only people handling advertising revenue of more than Rs 200 crore have been featured here, in descending order of their portfolio size.
* Media companies like AIR, Prajavani, ESPN, Indian Express have been left out even though they make to the list due to various reasons ranging from unavailability to company policies.
ARUNABH DAS SHARMA, PRESIDENT BENNETT, COLEMAN AND CO. LTD.
Arunabh Das Sharma, Executive Director & President, Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd, is the enviable revenue head of a media conglomerate that generates advertising revenue of more than Rs 4,000 crore.
An MBA in Marketing & Economics from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, he started his career in 1993 as an Area Sales Manager for ITC Limited, and has varied work experience across sectors in both emerging and matured markets. Das Sharma joined BCCL in April 2011 and is responsible for bringing in a focus on pricing, core process improvements, non-metro regions, language publications and overall tight measurability of every member in his team.
A total of 2,000 employees report directly and indirectly to him and his core responsibilities go beyond revenue, making him a hands-on leader. “Strategic aspects are increasingly more important for growth. With multimedia coming in, how you go out and get the larger share of wallets has become more critical,” says Das Sharma.
He rues the fact that advertising as a total percentage of GDP hasn’t grown fast enough in the past few years and that fragmentation happens with every new kind of medium that comes into the industry.
“Subscription revenue is lower in Print than in TV. For English dailies, it is around 10-12%; for languages it is about 20%, and in TV around 33-34%. I don’t see subscription revenue growing very substantially in Print because our readers are used to low subscription prices. That’s also a part of our strategy. But having a balance is never a bad thing.”
“We need strong model-building perhaps to see some greater investment in media, advertising and marketing that will help the products.”
“The difference between all the other groups and BCCL is that we have a lot of intellectual properties which we go out and monetize, such as The Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands, Economic Times Corporate Excellence Awards, etc.”
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 4,000 + crore
THE REACH
• 13 newspapers
• 18 magazines
• 11 publishing centres
• 26 printing centres
KEY MILESTONES
On November 3, 1838, The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce was first published as a bi-weekly newspaper for Bombay’s business community. The brand is celebrating its 175th anniversary.
WALL OF FAME
The Times of India enjoys undisputed leadership position in the English dailies segment, as per the latest Indian Readership Survey (IRS).
THE CORE TEAM:
C r Srinivasan, Director, BCCL (Government, PSU, Education & International Marketing)
R Sundar, Director, BCCL (Real Estate, Appointments, Classifieds, B2B, Exhibition)
Nandan Srinath, Director, BCCL (Consumer Soft, Telecom)
Sameer Sainani, Director, BCCL (Retail, Interior Decor, Clothing & Textile)
Joy Chakraborthy, Director, BCCL (6 Metros, Auto, Consumer Durables, IT, Travel & Tourism, Airlines, BFSI, Consumer Services, Media & Entertainment, Sports, Retail & Health Care)
Ranjeet Kate, Director, BCCL (Mini Metro Branches)
Other key members: Anita Khatri, VP-Luxury, and Meeta Sachdev, VP-Strategy & Pricing
AMIT CHOPRA, Head OF ad sales Star India Pvt. Ltd.
It’s just been a few weeks since Amit Chopra has taken over the mantle of heading advertising sales revenue for Star India. He has been entrusted the task of leveraging the formidable skills of the network’s sales team to drive growth in the business. Chopra has diverse portfolios in FMCG and media domains in a career spanning 20 years. He has an MBA degree from IIM, Ahmedabad. Prior to joining Star, he was the CEO of Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd., and earlier spent 12 years at Hindustan Unilever Ltd., working on brands like Brooke Bond and Kissan.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE -2,900 crore
LAUNCH YEAR - Star TV was launched in 1991
REACH - 40 channels in 8 languages
EYEBALLS - 400 million viewers every week
LATEST - To launch Star Movies Action in June
THE CORE TEAM
GUNEET ANAND, EVP, Ad sales (Hindi cluster), Star India
(Hindi channels portfolio, including Star Plus, Life OK, Star Gold and Star Utsav, both in Standard and Hd versions. Also looks after the Movie Portfolio at Star India)
KAUSHIK GHOSH, Senior VP, Ad sales (Regional Cluster), Star India (Looks after Star Pravah, Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies)
LOUIE FERNANDES. RaLpH
Senior VP, Ad sales (English Cluster), Star India (Handles the niche cluster of channels including Star Movies, Star World, National Geographic Channel, Fox Traveller, their Hd counterparts, FX, Fox Crime, NGC Wild, etc.)
ROHIT GUPTA, President, Multi screen Media
Rohit Gupta has literally hit a six for Sony Television with the Indian Premier League, which attracts a plethora of brands. Gupta, who now handles the digital, licensing and telephony business too, joined the media organization 10 years ago, when Sony had just paid over $200 million for the World Cup rights. Gupta was brought in from Xerox to give a fresh perspective on selling and marketing cricket. Since then, cricket has been instrumental in MSM’s revenue and profitability growth. Gupta credits his team for the MSM’s success.
THE CORE TEAM
SANDEEP MEHROTRA, VP – sales (Handles Sony TV)
DEEP DRONA, EVP – sales (Handles Max across both revenue streams - films and cricket, including IPL)
VIVEK GUPTA, Senior VP (National Sales Head for SAB)
MAYAR PENKAR, Senior VP – Sales (Manages the niche cluster of PIX, AXN and MIX)
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 2,200 crore
LAUNCH YEAR - Sony TV was launched in October 1995
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - Indian Premier League & Sony TV
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “When we lost the BCCi bid by just a whisker. it went to Star. We could have changed the way cricket is consumed as we already had IPL.”
“The point is to take on big challenges where the risks are high as the payoffs are also high. We could have lost a lot of money on IPL as it was totally untested waters, but when you work with a single point agenda of turning it into a big opportunity for the organization, you think differently and your solutions are also different. Now we understand what viewers and advertisers want.”
“The strength and the success is in the team that we have. We’ve virtually had zero attrition in the last five years. When you have a team which is motivated to deliver, then you are ready to take on any challenge. Our sales team is the best in the industry, it is easy for them to implement challenges that we throw at them. That’s the difference between us and our competitors.”
ASHISH SEHGAL, Chief SaleS OffiCer, Zeel
“With fragmentation of mindsets, there exists an incessant need for marketers to communicate across platforms,” says Ashish Sehgal, the revenue head of Zeel. he has been working with the group since 2006, and has over 19 years of experience. Sehgal feels digitization only opens up more revenues for all stakeholders in the television sector.
“With addressability leading to growth in subscription revenue, we will see a positive impact on advertising revenue as there will be multiple sources of information to indicate the strength of the medium, unlike mere number-crunching.”
Before joining Zeel, Sehgal was with Star India for five years, and worked as the Sales head for Star Gold. he considers joining Star as one of the turning points in his career.
THE CORE TEAM
SIJU PRABHAKARAN, Senior VP (Cluster head for South Channels, Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada and Zee Tamil & Branch head for South Zone)
ALI ZAINUL ABEDEEN, Senior VP (National Sales head for Zee Cinema)
SANJOY CHATTERJEE, Executive VP (Cluster head, Bangla channels and Ten bouquet. also Branch head for east Zone)
LAXMI SHETTY, Executive VP (Head - Strategic Sales Planning & Operations, Business intelligence, Process Management, Sales Collection & CRM)
VIJAY SANIL, Senior VP (National head for Zee TV)
PRIYANKA DATTA, Executive VP (head for Top Clients, Brand Solutions & Special Projects. Also Cluster head - regional, Niche and hD Channels and Branch head of West Zone)
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 1,950
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - Dance India Dance, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Zee Cine Awards
LAUNCH YEAR 1992
REACH : 30+ Channels
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “ I was with univista tv as an executive. I had done a deal with Rajul Kulshreshtha worth Rs 5 crore, but on a chit. We didn’t go through the normal routine and the deal was more on trust and not based on terms & conditions.”
“A conducive environment providing a relevant audience set through crisper formats with high engagement quotient and impact will be the new game-changer. Creating an impact and attracting large-scale viewership have emerged as absolutely high value advertising propositions. More importantly, industry bodies will have to play a pivotal role in redefining and valuing the currency for the audience delivered.”
“Last year, we set a three-year vision for ourselves. The main focus was on the first year, as the base has to be strong. We are growing at 30%, where we plan to touch Star Network or at least be at par with Star. This can be achieved by increasing the GRP of the network. Fortunately, we are doing more revenue in the regional space.”
BENOY ROY CHOWDHURY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HT MEDIA LIMITED
Benoy Roy Chowdhury is credited with strengthening the company’s advertising sales across markets in his initial years with Ht Media after joining the organization in 2004. to him goes the credit for making the group grow strongly in sectors such as radio. Now, he has overall responsibility of Hindustan times & Hindustan. Earlier in his career, he has experience of working with several organizations such as Whirlpool, Procter & Gamble and Godrej. He holds an honours degree in Economics from Presidency college, calcutta and also a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur.
RAJEEV BEOTRA, NATIONAL HEAD, REVENUE & CIRCULATION, HT MEDIA LIMITED
Rajeev Beotra joined Ht Media in 2005, to handle advertising Sales for North and East for the Ht brand. in 2008, he started handling Hindustan and Mint revenues as well for North and East. From 2009 to 2011 , he was the National head for Print advertising revenues. From 2011 to 2012, he headed the circulation sales function, and since July 2012 , he has been the Head of advertising Sales and circulation Sales for Ht Media’s print business.
Beotra is an Engineering graduate and also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from Punjab university. He has rich experience in managing sales of large business conglomerates across consumer durables and FMCG industries.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 1,500 crore
REACH - 19 Editions of Hindustan, 14 Editions of Hindustan times
WALL OF FAME - Hindustan times stands at second position among the top 10 English dailies in India while HT Media’s Hindi daily, Hindustan, stands at third position among the top 10 Hindi dailies in India, as per the latest Indian readership Survey (IRS).
LATEST - HT Media recently launched Mintasia in Singapore for global readers who are tuned into the Indian economy.
RANJAN P. THAKUR, ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR GENERAL, DOORDARSHAN
Ranjan P. Thakur has recently been appointed to look after the sales function for Doordarshan. He has a deep understanding of Prasar Bharati. Earlier, he worked as Private Secretary to the Minister for Information & Broadcasting. He is a 1989 batch SAG level officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service, and holds a Masters Degree in International Trade from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi and an MBA from IIM, Indore.
REACH - Doordarshan presently operates 35 satellite channels
MONEY TALK - For a 10-second ad spot on Doordarshan national network during the news/Samachar hour, advertisers have to shell out Rs 90,000.
LATEST - Asian Television network International limited bagged exclusive rights to the five television services- DD India, DD News, DD Bharati, DD Urdu and DD Sports for the market of canada.
MANOJ MENON, NETWORK SALES HEAD, SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
Manoj Menon joined the Sun TV network in September 2012 and heads national Sales for the group. Prior to joining the Sun Group, Menon was with Bloomberg UTV (now Bloomberg TV India). He has also worked with Star India for over a decade across various channels since August 1999.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 950-1000 crore
REACH - With 32 TV channels in 4 Indian languages; Sun network reaches 95 million households in India and 27 countries globally
LATEST - After venturing into the sectors of media and entertainment, the Sun Group recently bought their first IPL team, the Sun-Risers.
PRADEEP DWIVEDI, ChIef Corporate SaleS & MarketIng offICer, DaInIk Bhaskar
Pradeep Dwivedi recently joined Dainik Bhaskar group as Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer. He has 19 years of management experience in leading Sales & Marketing, Service Delivery, risk operations and Business Development in various organizations such as tata teleservices ltd., american express Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, ge Capital and eicher Motors ltd. Dwivedi is responsible for overall Sales revenues and leads nationwide corporate sales for the group publications, viz. Dainik Bhaskar (hindi), Divya Bhaskar (gujarati) & Divya Marathi (Marathi).
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 1,200 crore
REACH - 13 states, 65 editions, 4 languages
WALL OF FAME - Dainik Bhaskar stands at second position in the top 10 Hindi dailies list as per the latest Indian readership survey (IRS).
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - As an industry category in advertising this year, education, telecommunications, it & BFSI have not performed at par with the trend of previous years in Print media, and hence these are missed opportunities, feels Dwivedi.
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - “We have a wide diversity of advertisers leveraging our large presence and superior readership base. In terms of categories, automobile & lifestyle client base has emerged as the biggest revenue driver .”
“We believe 2013 is likely to be significantly better than the last two years, given the government intent on economic reforms, driving investors’ sentiments besides propelling economic growth across all sectors.” • Pradeep Dwivedi
SURESH SRINIVASAN, VP-ADVERTISING, THE HINDU
Suresh Srinivasan has been the Vice President-Advertising of the Hindu since August 2012. He is responsible for Advertising revenues and operations Nationally across all publications. Before Joining the hindu, he was with reliance Communications as executive senior Vice President. He was also with Ram Systems Ltd as general Manager-secured Converged networking division. He is an MBA holder from Delhi University.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 1,000 crore
WALL OF FAME - The Hindu stands at third position in the top 10 English dailies list as per the latest Indian readership survey (IRS).
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “The hindu had a TV arrangement with NDTV, which was our foray into TV. By the time i joined, the management had already taken the decision to hive it off. I think this could have given us an opportunity to use the vehicle and grow our business. We could have delivered far more to our advertisers by combining Print & TV.”
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Last year, we organized an event called ‘Presence’ in Chennai. ‘Presence’ was a landmark event where we as market leaders took on the responsibility to see how we could expand the market. We signed up over 400 annual packages as we told people that there is a science and method for effective advertising.”
THE CORE TEAM
PARTHASARTHY NATARAJAN, AVP - Mumbai
PAWAN BHATNAGAR, AVP - North
SATISH KUMAR - AVP - South
SOUMITRA DASGUPTA - GM – East
“Our current efforts are to consolidate our position as South India’s No. 1 English daily. A lot of our strategies and objectives emerge out of this. We want to protect our leadership in South India and connect very well with the audience here. Having said that, we also want to be a very strong No. 2 nationally.” • Suresh Srinivasan
VARGHESE CHANDY, CHIEF GM - MARKETING, ADVERTISING & SALES, MALAYALA MANORAMA
Varghese Chandy joined Malayala Manorama in 1983 as a Marketing executive when the operations were at a nascent stage and he has only grown along with the organization. he started a research Wing in the company and now has a fairly established media research group. he spearheaded ‘Junction k’, a platform integrating all media and offering multi-media solutions. It is actually aggregating audiences from various media and selling up those audiences as a set of tablet groups to various clients. Chandy’s first job was as an Officer Trainer with Usha Sales, now known as Usha International.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 1000 crore
WALL OF FAME – Malayala Manorama is in fourth position in the top 10 Publications and top 10 dailies list as per the latest irs. vanitha stands at first position in the top 10 magazines list as per the latest IRS.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “I think the company diversified at the right time; perhaps the TV foray could have happened earlier. We are into entertainment and news, but should have done it much earlier.”
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Though every deal has been special, the best deal is always the first deal of the year. This is not in terms of revenue, but in terms of satisfaction.”
“Media is being commoditized. This happened with slowdown across the world and in India, with all the media buying houses here. This will grow and create an unhealthy situation not only for Print, but every media.” •Varghese Chandy
MEDIA OWNER ( Oversees designated revenue/ad sales head )
MAHENDRA MOHAN GUPTA, Chairman & Managing Director
SANJAY GUPTA, CEO & Whole Time Director
SHAILESH GUPTA, WHOLE TIME DIRECTOR, JAGRAN PRAKASHAN LIMITED
Shailesh Gupta, son of Jagran Prakashan limited chairman & MD Mahendra Mohan gupta, is a wholetime Director of Jagran Prakashan. Gupta has more than 19 years of experience in the print media industry, and heads the advertisement and marketing department, overlooking verticals such as Print, outdoor, events and Digital, to monetize and grow the business. Gupta has been elected chairman of the audit Bureau of circulations for the year 2012-2013.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 900 crore
REACH- 9 newspaper titles in 5 different languages across 15 states with over 100 editions
LAUNCH - The flagship brand Dainik Jagran was launched in 1942
WALL OF FAME - Dainik Jagran stands at no. 1 in the Top 10 Hindi Dailies list as per the latest Indian Readership survey (IRS).
THE CORE TEAM
VIPON KHATWANI, Vice-President (looks after the north Zone)
SHAILENDRA JAITLEY, VP – corporate marketing (looks after the central & east Zones)
N SEKAR, Vice-President (looks after the south Zone)
VIKAS JOSHI, senior VP-marketing (looks after the West Zone)
Gulab Kothari, Managing Director
Nihar Kothari, Director
SIDDHARTH KOTHARI, DIRECTOR, THE PATRIKA GROUP
Siddharth Kothari, Director, The Patrika Group and son of Rajasthan Patrika Managing Director Gulab Kothari, plays a major role in growing the overall business, especially the advertising sales revenue function of the organization. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and holds an Owner/President Management (OPM) degree from Harvard Business School. To him goes the credit for driving the group towards new territories such as Madhya Pradesh.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 800-900 crore
REACH - 17 print centers in 5 states with more than 50 editions
WALL OF FAME - Rajasthan Patrika stands at No. 5 in the Top 10 Hindi Dailies list released by the Indian Readership Survey. Patrika events have recorded footfalls of as high as 18 lakh and have been recognized thrice in the Limca Book of Records.
ARVIND KALIA, National Head, Marketing, The Patrika Group
Arvind Kalia is the National Head, Marketing for Rajasthan Patrika. He also holds a PHD from University of Rajasthan in brand positioning strategies of personal products manufactured by selected Indian and multinational companies.
SIMRAN HOON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF SALES, COLORS
Simran Hoon began her career in 1994 in the ad sales department of The Times of India. Since then, she has garnered experience in the television industry by working with broadcasters such as Sony Entertainment Television, Channel v and Zee Tv. With almost 13 years of experience in ad sales in the television industry, Hoon joined Colors in 2007 with the aim of establishing the channel and sustaining future growth. Working closely with the CEO, Simran has pioneered the cause of innovation and ideation in advertising sales at Colors since 2007.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE- 700 crore
LAUNCHED - July 2008
LATEST- Dance based reality show Jhalak Dikhla Ja Season 6 is a big ticket show for the network
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “The biggest deal and the most special one was the very first one we cracked with Idea Cellular as the presenting sponsor of the first season of ‘Idea presents Khatron Ke Khiladi’. This was closed two months before Colors launched in July 2008!”
“The big changes in 2013 will be in how entertainment is consumed. Content is going to become more and more platform agnostic. More and more first time users of the Internet - be it on mobiles, tablets or computer screens - will watch live or deferred content on multiple screens and not just on traditional TV sets. This will serve as a big opportunity to monetize integrated ads.” •Simran Hoon
RAJEEV NAMBIAR, CEO, MALAR PUBLICATIONS (HELLO FM & SOVEREIGN MEDIA MARKETING)
Rajeev Nambiar joined Malar Publications Ltd. in 2006 to head its foray into FM radio. As President and Chief Executive Officer of Hello FM, he has headed its operations across seven stations to build the single largest private FM radio network in Tamil Nadu. Currently, he is also the CEO of Sovereign Media Marketing, which markets the group’s various media brands, including the parent company’s flagship newspaper, The Daily Thanthi. Sovereign Media Marketing is also the sales & marketing support team for the recently launched Thanthi TV. Nambiar’s career in media began with the Times of India in 1989 before he moved over to Jain TV for a brief stint in 1995. After this came his tenure with Raj Television Network for a whole decade, where he chartered the network’s bouquet of channels through cutting-edge strategic programming, sales and marketing initiatives.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 600-700 crore
REACH - 13 editions in Tamil Nadu, 1 edition in Bengaluru & Mumbai each
WALL OF FAME - Daily Thanthi stands second in the Top 10 language Dailies list as per the latest indian Readership Survey.
CHANDAN MAJUMDAR, VICE PRESIDENT, ADVERTISEMENT SALES (DAILIES), ABP GROUP
chandan Majumdar joined ABP Group in 2000, and worked in various positions since then. He was General Manager, Finance between 2003 and 2005, before becoming VP of the flagship Anandabazar Patrika from 2005 to 2007. He then returned to the finance function as VP-Finance & IT in 2007. At present, he is the VP, Advertisement sales (Dailies) and oversees the advertisement and marketing activities of AnandaBazar Patrika and The Telegraph. He began his career as a chartered accountant with AF Ferguson & Company in 1988. He joined Tata Steel in 1989 as Deputy Manager, Finance, leaving the group briefly to serve as regional Accounts Head for Larsen & Toubro Ltd. Thereafter, he joined Tata Ryerson, between 1997 and 2000.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 700 crore
LAUNCHED – Anandabazar Patrika was launched on the auspicious day of Holi on March 13, 1922. It was an evening daily, printed in red ink.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “Most of the IT companies such as Dell, Lenovo etc., have drastically reduced their ad spends in Print. This represents a missed opportunity for the industry.”
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Our iconic Anandabazar Patrika and our newly launched Ebela, which has a circulation of around 3.20 lakh. ”
“The environment is challenging. The head winds continue to be strong and the group will be concentrating on innovative advertising, delivering products like the Cadbury Mishti activity, for which we won so many accolades. Innovation is the key.” •Chandan Majumdar
K SUBRAMANIUM, PRESIDENT, EENADU TV
K Subramanium has been handling the revenue portfolio for ETV Network since 1995. His purview includes 12 channels in the regional markets. After completing postgraduation in Management, he worked for logistics & FMCG brands and then joined Eenadu TV.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 600 crore
REACH: 12 regional channels
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Rs. 10 crore ad spends in a single day by one client.”
“The current methodology of Cost Per Rating Point (CPRP) doesn’t allow anyone to increase ad rates. But if the measurement shifts from CPRP to Cost Per Million, we may witness a huge jump in revenue. Regional channels have a rural model. We reach even the remotest village. TAM doesn’t monitor beyond a certain point, but for this, the industry needs to come together.” • K Subramanium
A J CHRISTOPHER, NATIONAL HEAD, SALES & MARKETING, EENADU GROUP
A J Christopher started his career as a salesman with Singer Food Processing Machines followed by a stint selling vacuumcleaners, toys and resorts. He then worked with First Flight Couriers, after which he joined Eenadu in 2002 as an advertisement executive. He has been handling Print, Television, digital (e-business), Events & Activations (e-360 degree) and Outdoor.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE - 500 crore
WALL OF FAME - Eenadu stands fifth in the Top 10 Language dailies list as per the latest indian readership Survey.
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “A full day branding by ramco Cements during diwali 1996 on ETV Telugu, which I think is the first of its kind in the Cable & Satellite space.”
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - “Our activation ‘Aspiration’ which has completed two seasons for our client Vellore institute of Technology. The last time, we closed the bill for Rs 1.4 crore.”
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE - “We want to position our media group as a holistic multi-media solutions provider in Andhra Pradesh and move beyond the standard prescribed industry metrics of CPTs or GRPS or CPLS, etc.”
“We would like to create the Volkswagen type of innovations on our media platforms as Eenadu is known for innovations, be it sampling way back in the early 80’s or district edition tabloids or the 294 constituency editions that we bring out in Andhra Pradesh. These offer tremendous potential for brands to go micro.” • A J Christopher
Vijay Darda, (Chairman and Editor-in-Chief)
Devendra Darda, Managing Director
RISHI DARDA, JOINT MD & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Rishi Darda, nephew of Lokmat media chairman Vijay Darda, is majorly involved in overseeing the advertising sale revenue function of the organization over and above his responsibility of leading the editorial side across. publications.
KARAN DARDA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LOKMAT MEDIA PVT. LTD.
Karan Darda, nephew of Lokmat media chairman Vijay Darda, is involved in growing the business. He conceptualizes and implements marketing programmes, and also drives the circulation and revenue portfolio of the group. He has succeeded with initiatives in sports.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 500 crore
REACH - Lokmat has 11 editions; Lokmat samachar has 6 editions; Lokmat times has 3 editions
WALL OF FAME – Lokmat stands third in the top 10 Language dailies List as per the latest indian Readership survey.
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - ‘Hello’ is a 35-district split supplement across Maharashtra, which attracts a lot of local advertising. The supplements are called ‘Hello amravati’, ‘Hello Beed’, and so on.
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE - “Consolidation and growing a few of our weaker editions is the immediate priority.”
AJIT K NAIR, Vice President & National Head, Lokmat Media Pvt. Ltd.
Ajit K Nair has more than 20 years of extensive experience in business development, advertising sales, Relationship management and team management. He has experience in achieving organizational revenue targets in budgeted parameters. At Lokmat, he has been driving sales initiatives to achieve desired targets through advertisement sales.
The outlook seems to be cautious. However the consumption of products and services across different categories continue to grow. Marketers will continue to invest in building and increasing their presence in the markets outside the metro regions.” • Ajit K Nair
RAJAN ANANDAN, MD AND VICE PRESIDENT SALES & OPERATIONS, GOOGLE INDIA
Rajan Anandan’s career includes global leadership roles at Microsoft, Dell and McKinsey & company. Prior to Google, Anandan was MD of Microsoft India, responsible for all aspects of software, OEM and services business in the country. Under his leadership, Microsoft India was recognized as the no.1 subsidiary among emerging markets worldwide.
THE CORE TEAM
NITIN BAWANKULE, Industry Director, E-Commerce, Local & Media
(Nitin Bawankule is responsible for driving Google’s Advertising business for his set of verticals, focusing on acquisition, retention and partnerships. Prior to this he was Director in Dell for Asia Pacific Japan Region, managing software and peripherals portfolio.)
PRAVEEN SHARMA, Head Of Media Sales
(A Googler since september 2010, Praveen Sharma is responsible for driving the growth of Google’s display sales in india. Before joining Google, he spent 14 years in the advertising business with several leading agencies like lintas, Madison and GroupM.)
NEERAJ GUPTA, Industry Director - Technology, Telecom & Consumer Packaged Goods
(Neeraj Gupta heads the technology, telecom & consumer Packaged Goods vertical of the india-facing Business. With over 15 years of work experience, Gupta has worked with companies such as Dell, accenture, HCL, HP and Unilever.)
VIKAS AGNIHOTRI, Industry Director, BFSI And Travel
(Vikas Agnihotri has been working with Google since June 2011. Before that, he was with Religare, Macquarie Private wealth Management, Deutsche Bank, standard chartered Bank among other companies.)
PUNITHA ARUMUGHAM, Director of agency Business & advertiser relations (Punitha Arumugam has been overseeing advertiser Relations of Google india since March 2012, bringing to her job her excellent skills as a media agency Professional with over 20 years experience. In her earlier stint as Group CEO of Madison Media, Arumugham grew its billings tremendously, making it the second largest media agency in India.)
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 500+ crore
GEORGE SEBASTIAN, SENIOR GM, SALES & MARKETING, MATHRUBHUMI GROUP
George Sebastian has a total experience of 32 years experience in media which includes Print, Television and Radio. he is currently in charge of Mathrubhumi Print titles, Digital, Club FM and Mathrubhumi TV in the national metro markets. He has worked with Mathrubhumi in two stints – between 1986-1992 & 2004 to date. Sebastian started his career as a marketing trainee with bCCl in 1980. he has contributed to Mathrubhumi’s growth from a Print media company to a multi-media conglomerate spanning Print, Digital, music acquisition, events, ooh, FM Radio, brand activation, and now Television.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 450 crore
REACH - 15 editions, including the 4 metro cities and 1 in UAE
WALL OF FAME – Mathrubhumi stands at fourth position in the top 10 Language dailies list as per the latest Indian readership survey (IRS).
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Tied up with the producers of mega serials on DD for Ramayan & Mahabharat in 1988 for exclusive rights to reproduce translated dialogue-script in Mathrubhumi Daily on the day of telecast, i.e., every Sunday. This impacted in higher readership and enhanced Advertising revenue.”
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - “We have 5 different platforms and each has its USP. I would like to mention Club FM, which does maximum activation programmes for brands and more interactive shows than any other radio station in Kerala.”
“In many agencies, young media planners hardly know anything about the markets of their clients, beyond IRS, TAM and RAM data. I take interest in providing relevant inputs about the market and habits of the TG beyond numbers, to media agency personnel who show curiosity or want to learn more.” • George Sebastian
SANJAY DUA, CEO, NETWORK18 NEWS MEDIA NETWORK
Sanjay Dua has over 20 years of corporate experience, of which the last 18 years have been in the Media industry. Prior to joining IBN18 Broadcast Ltd, he headed all-India sales for Zee News and Zee Business. He has also worked with Bennett Coleman & Co and Walt Disney, where he was in charge of sales across various channels in India. Dua’s specific responsibilities include identifying and capitalizing on sales growth opportunities for the IBN Network. He is a Hotel Management graduate from Lucknow University and has undergone various executive training programmes, the most recent one being from Mudra Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 450 crore
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - “Across our news and factual entertainment stable, we’ve a diverse portfolio of brands, each with a sharply defined market proposition and strong track-record with clients. In the medium term, the upcoming elections will be a major driver for us in the news businesses.”
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE - “Our priority will continue to be on delivering comprehensive solutions to clients as a ‘network’ with innovations that truly meet their brand objectives.”
“2012 has been a challenging year on the whole, particularly for some genres. We are hopeful of an improvement in the environment in 2013, assuming growth trends up in the economy along with decisive government action on key policy fronts. The second half seems more promising as a lead-up to the national elections next year.” • Sanjay Dua
SUNIL MUTREJA, OUTGOING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMAR UJALA PUBLICATIONS LTD
Sunil Mutreja looks after advertising, circulation, brand management and newsprint at Amar Ujala Publications. His first job was as a management trainee at Dalmia Dairy industry after he worked in various companies such as Super flame Appliances limited, Gloclass luggage company, Nikko battery and Times group. Mutreja has tried to change the business model by giving an integrated solution on the Marketshare for clients.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 425 crore
WALL OF FAME - Amar Ujala stands at fourth position in the top 10 Hindi dailies list as per the latest Indian readership survey (IRS).
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “We should have started on Digital two years ago. We are a little late. However, now we are in the thick of it, and in the coming years, we will be successful there as well.”
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE - “We are expanding into other markets like Haryana. We are launching a new printing press in Rohtak. We have expanded into commercial printing divisions, digital, books, magazines. These are growing our business.”
“We approach the client to increase their marketshare and sales on a turnkey basis. We give them complete details on what they should do not only in terms of media, but also in terms of credit and reach based sales. This is called Amar Ujala Touch-points.” • Sunil Mutreja
VIJAY BOBBY, CHIEF GENERAL MANAGER - MARKETING, DINAKARAN
Vijay Bobby joined Dinakaran tamil daily, owned by the Sun Group, as Chief General Manager-Marketing in 2007. he launched the free/paid classified ad combo in Dinakaran Chennai edition. that was when Dinakaran was doing very badly in the classified segment. Bobby introduced a concept wherein individuals could place their classifieds free, but commercial establishments had to pay. this was a successful initiative. Bobby has 40 years of experience, his first job being with Chennai-based Speciality Publications in 1973. In 1993, he started his own ad agency, Vijay Advertising & Communications, for which he got full accreditation in 1995. In 2003, he decided to transfer the ownership of the agency and resigned from the Board.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 400 crore
WALL OF FAME - Dinakaran stands at ninth position in the top 10 Language dailies list as per the latest Indian readership survey (IRS).
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “As Francis Bacon has said, “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds” and I am a guy who is always on the lookout for opportunities that sometimes may not even exist. So frankly, I do not think I have missed any opportunity.”
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Even though my team and I have cracked many deals, I personally don’t see cracking a deal as a big achievement. In the past, cracking a deal gave one a lot of satisfaction, as it was based on the merits of the media and the capabilities of the personnel.”
“More players, more media options, more negotiations, more compromises. The industry will certainly grow but will ethics, fair play and merit-based decisions take a beating? That needs to be seen.” • Vijay Bobby
DHARMEISH VATS, CEO, GUJARAT SAMACHAR
Dharmeish Vats has been the CEO of Gujarat Samachar since October 2006. He started as a Sales Executive in 1989, with the erstwhile pioneers in yellow pages – United Database (I) Pvt. Ltd. popularly known as UDI Yellow Pages. He has also worked with MCX, Omni Media and The Indian Express.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 360 crore
WALL OF FAME - Gujarat Samachar stands at eighth position in the Top 10 Language Dailies list as per the latest Indian readership Survey (IRS).
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Revenue-wise, there have been many huge deals, but my team and I enjoy the madness of closing the difficult deals.”
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE - “We are all geared to get into TV strongly with all the necessary requirements.”
“I am sure everyone will have instances where they could have done better or grabbed an opportunity faster. This indicates wisdom, but if you can’t spot any, then that shows that you haven’t grown.” • Dharmesh Vats
JUHI RAVINDRANATH, VP - AD SALES, SOUTH ASIA, TURNER INTERNATIONAL INDIA PVT. LTD.
Juhi Ravindranath spearheads the region’s ad sales operations for Cartoon Network,Pogo, HBO and WB. In South asia, she is responsible for driving ad revenues for the existing brands, strategizing and setting up ad sales for new launches in the market. This includes digital revenues from the channel sites as well. She has played a pivotal role in setting up Turner Media Solutions locally in 2011. It is a division responsible for delivering innovative ad sales solutions to Turner’s clients. Ravindranath began her broadcast career with Star India, where she spent 10 years. Her last role there was heading ad sales for Star Plus and Star One.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 300 - 350 crore
REACH - Turner presently operates 7 satellite channels in India, including the recently launched ad-free channels, HBO Hits and HBO Defined.
LATEST - Cartoon Network recently partnered with Film Kraft Productions and Toonz animation to release four animated movie sequels based on the Bollywood hit ‘Krrish’ between 2013 and 2014.
HEMANT ARORA, CHIEF SALES OFFICER, TIMES TELEVISION NETWORK
Hemant arora has been with the group since 2011. His responsibilities include revenue on verticals spread across Bollywood/Youth/lifestyle Genre, Business and English News. He has recently been given additional responsibility of heading Branded Content to focus on customized solutions and properties that enhance value for clients. arora has around 16 years of experience in media Sales and marketing, spanning Print, internet, Tv-Terrestial and Tv- Cable & Satellite. He has worked with various media organizations such as Dainik Bhaskar Group, NDTv media, etc.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 350 crore
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - “On Times Now, it is The News Hour. Special programmes around events like Budget, Election, Fashion Weeks, Holi, etc. too fetch huge revenue.”
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE - “Our channels are long standing leaders in their respective genres when it comes to viewership and the same is true for revenues as well. Our future vision stems from this hought process and the strategies that enable us to achieving leadership dominance in all aspects including ad sales revenue are aligned from time to time like the recent rate hike across the board on all our channels.
“The true mark of a special deal is when we are able to bring in automation through the organizational culture that we mould, through careful and long term training of teams to be able to perform as entrepreneurs while within the parameters of the organization as such, through putting together business systems which fuel, fire and facilitate the sales teams to treat each client as the biggest and each deal as special.” • Hemant Arora
MANOJ SHARMA, GROUP BUSINESS HEAD, INDIA TODAY
Manoj Sharma has spent more than 20 years with the India Today group, rising from an impact executive to the position of Group Business Head, leading the overall magazine and dailies business. Sharma dabbled with the electronic media and had two successful stints in the TV space with CNBC and India TV. But he always returned to the home turf, each time handling bigger portfolios.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 300 crore
WALL OF FAME - India Today stands at first position in the Top 10 english Magazines list as per the latest Indian Readership Survey (IRS).
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Every year comes with new business challenges. we propose and close various deals with path breaking innovations and strategically driven solutions. It would be unfair to name just a few.”
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “India Today group keep editorial integrity at the fore, much above any business imperative. There have been instances where we have lost a few very large corporate and government businesses due to this.”
“The so-called overhyped growth of digital media is becoming a reality. With the overall media to grow in single digit rates, the digital media has been growing at about 40-50% year on year.” •Manoj Sharma
RAJNISH RIKHY, VP-ADVERTISING SALES, TV TODAY NETWORK
Rajnish Rikhy joined TV Today Network in 2004 and has been looking after both Aajtak and Headlines Today. Before joining TV Today Network, Rikhy was with The Times of India as Vice-President (Response). Rikhy is an MBA from FMS, Delhi and was with the DCM Group before he joined The Times of India in 1988. Besides ad sales, Rikhy has worked in Marketing as well as Strategic Planning at Times Of India.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 300 crore
REACH - Aaj Tak, the Hindi News channel from the network reaches over 50 million homes
LATEST - After re-launching its programming line-up and strategy, Headlines Today is fast moving up in the english news channel business.
SHAILESH AMONKAR, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, SAKAL
Shailesh Amonkar has been with the group in two stints. He joined sakal again in 2012 and oversees the entire sales and marketing for Sakal Media group, which also includes brand strategy. His first job was with the times group in 1987.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 300 crore
REACH - 5 regional news dailies, 3 Marathi news dailies, 2 Marathi weeklies, 2 English news dailies
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “Having dabbled with much innovation across various media platforms, each novelty that has been successfully monetized remains etched in memory as a trophy.”
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE - “We are constantly doing innovative activities and creating a large number of properties, which in itself is good for our growth in terms of revenue.”
“Challenges and challenges galore lie in store. The market is already hinting that 2013 is going to be a tough year. What is the best approach? Well, as we keep reiterating, innovation and ideation in content, marketing and operations management.” • Shailesh Amonkar
KRP REDDY, DIRECTOR (ADVTG & MKTG), JAGATI PUBLICATIONS LIMITED
KRP Reddy has been heading the advertising and marketing function of Jagati Publications, publishers of sakshi telugu Daily, since 2007. the daily, which was launched in 2008, is registered in the limca book of records for its simultaneous launch of 23 editions.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 200 - 250 crore
WALL OF FAME - sakshi stands at seventh position in the top 10 language Dailies list as per the latest Indian readership survey (IRS).
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “My team and i have been very instrumental in building exclusive clients who were earlier using other mediums.”
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVERS - ‘Sakshi Bhavitha education fair’, a career counselling event for students who have appeared for standard X exams, generates huge sponsor revenues in Hyderabad.
“We have utilized all opportunities which have come our way to enhance the interest of our organization. We did a very innovative project with Colgate by bringing out a night edition in Hyderabad. The project was well conceived and implemented and has won national awards.” • KRP Reddy
PRASHANT PANDAY, CEO, RADIO MIRCHI
Prashant Panday has been with Radio Mirchi right from its inception. he has several achievements to his credit, including the roll-out of Phase II radio stations of the company. he has led managers from different backgrounds to make the brand, Radio Mirchi, one of India’s biggest radio company and the most popular FM radio brand. Radio Mirchi is India’s first listed radio company and leads in listenership in 25 out of its 32 markets. It commands a market-share of 42% in revenue terms. Panday also looks after 360 degrees – the event management arm of ENIL. he holds a Bachelors degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Gujarat University and a Postgraduate diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. he has 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and advertising.
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 300 crore
REACH - Network across 14 states with 32 stations
BIGGEST DEAL CRACKED - “There was a good deal we cracked for Vodafone called VMCT (Vodafone Mirchi Caller Tunes) in which the client got a very good value proposition to support their Ring Back Tone business.”
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “Yes, there are quite a few. In most cases, we couldn’t convince our clients about the power of the idea. But we are hoping we will be able to find the right clients for some of these ideas soon.”
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE - “Bid aggressively for Phase III expansion, grow beyond Indian shores, and continue being the best place for creative, marketing and sales people to work.”
“This year will remain tough. Innovators will be rewarded. Radio will continue to grow faster than TV, Print and Outdoors. In short, everyone will be tested!” • Prashant Panday
AVINASH PANDEY, COO & CRO, MCCS
Avinash Pandey heads Advertising Sales for MCCS. He has rich experience of more than 16 years in media sales. He started his career with the Indian Express Group and moved on to TV Today group in 2000. He joined MCCS in 2005. Pandey looks after all three TV channels of the group, various events and digital. MCCS has seen huge market expansion, of which almost 20% of the revenue comes from metropolitan cities. Incidentally, Pandey sold the first ticker on Indian television to brand GSK for Aaj Tak. Aaj Tak was the first one to monetize news headlines, and today the revenues of headlines would be close to Rs 100 crore, and the ticker business is around Rs 30-40 crore.
Gautam Sharma, VP, Head of Ad Sales (National Sales Head for the MCCS News Network, including ABP News, ABP Ananda and ABP Majha)
ESTIMATED ADVERTISING REVENUE – 250 crore
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - “Regional languages don’t allow you to do what other business channels can do. News is grossly under-priced because of a lot of unnecessary licenses offered to too many players, which leads to playing of same content and thus no differentiation.”
BIGGEST REVENUE DRIVER - ‘Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri’ and ‘Kaun Banega Pradhanmantri’ which were launched few years ago, for which a