MxMIndia

Tag: G Krishnan

  • The Group CEO whose resignation was announced yesterday is the senior most and longest serving captains of a big media company in India

    Who next after Ashish Bagga? And where’s he going?

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    A few hours after close of trading hours on Monday, the publicly listed TV Today Network informed the two stock exchanges that its CEO Ashish Kumar Bagga had resigned. With effect from July. For personal reasons.

     

    Bagga, one of the senior most and longest-running CEOs amongst the bigger players in the Indian media business (other than the owners of course), has been Group CEO of the India Today group, a position that he gained a few years back, after G Krishnan moved on from TV Today.  According to information received, all those who directly report to him will now report to Group Editorial Director (Broadcast & New Media) and Group CFO Dinesh Bhatia.

     

    Bagga, who did his MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Pune and is a British Chevening Scholarship scholar at the Manchester Business School, started out with the group soon after in 1983.He has been actively associated with and spearheaded all of the group’s media offerings ever since though he did exit the group for a bit to join a Business Standard-Financial Times venture.

     

    Having cut his teeth with Madhu Trehan’s Newstrack in the 1980s, started his career with the India Today Group in 1983 and before re-joining the India Today Group in 2001, Bagga briefly served as President & CEO with Business Standard’s e-initiative, in association with Financial Times, London.

     

    Although the digital play of the group has been found wanting, Bagga has spearheaded the ship with fair passion and virtually been the face of the India Today group at most industry associations and pressure groups.

     

    He is currently President of the News Broadcasters Association (which he occupied after Ashok Venkatramani relinquished after he quit ABP News). He was also President of the Indian Newspaper Society and earlier President of the Association of Indian Magazines. Interesting his work helming both the NBA and INS required taking some tough decisions – like advising NBA members to withdraw the watermarking when they felt aggrieved and also rallying INS members together when they were upset about the Indian Readership Survey.

     

    According to a mail that is said to have been sent to all employees, founder, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief AroonPurie has written on Bagga: “I have always appreciated his sage counsel and his ‘can do’ attitude. His contribution to the group has been significant. Not least for the excellent team of effective leaders he has mentored who I am sure will carry us in our journey forward.” Do note that we do not have confirmation whether this mail has indeed been sent from Purie’s office.

     

    While there were rumours on Bagga’s exit for a few weeks, now that it has been announced, one will wait to see if his position will find a new suitor and what he does next. Will KalliPurie take charge of business operations, or will the Kumar Mangalam Birla investment of 41-odd percent get the group to appoint a CEO from the outsideor have one of their own in the job. There have also been strong rumours on RP-Sanjiv Goenka group picking up a sizeable stake.

     

    In May 2015, he had said in an interview published in MxM that contextual mobile commerce is the future and he had some ideas he would like to implement there. A lot has changed in that arena since then, but what’s certain is that Bagga has some surefire plans up his sleeves. In the same interview, when he was asked about his dream job, he had said: Being the world’s top media honcho.

     

    Watch this space for more.

     

  • The TV Today networks' news channels and radio stations have been under severe pressures thanks to a weak market and competition

    No successor to Joy Chakraborthy named, testing times ahead for TV Today network

    By A Correspondent

     

    On the face of things, it’s meant to be a simple parting of ways. Although outgoing TV Today Network CEO Joy Chakraborthy has quoted personal reasons and being away from the family based in Mumbai as his reasons for moving on, the industry has been abuzz with stories about the sudden departure.

     

    Joy Chakraborthy
    Joy Chakraborthy

    India Today group Group CEO Ashish Bagga confirmed the departure of TV Today CEO Joy Chakraborthy to MxMIndia on Tuesday evening adding that no replacement had been announced it.

     

    Mr Chakraborthy had joined TV Today on December 1, having quit Zee Entertainment as executive director (revenue and niche channels) in October 2011. In September, G Krishnan had announced his departure from the Network. In the new organization realignment, Mr Chakraborthy reported to Mr Bagga.

     

    The news channels and radio station that come under the TV Today umbrella have been under severe pressures thanks to a weak market and competition from other networks. While India TV has been a clear trendsetter in popular Hindi news, ABP News (eka Star News) has been galloping ahead. Sadly, for Aaj Tak, the name change has not adversely impacted the MCCS-owned Hindi channel.

     

    In fact flagship Aaj Tak has been going through an identity crisis for a while. Should it be a serious news channel and be recognised for the journalistic values that the India Today group stands for? Or should it be populist with dumbed down news and toe the line of the Rajat Sharma-run India TV? Sibling Headlines Today, the English news channel from the group, has also made little headway. Save a few spikes since it was set up, it’s just not caught the attention of the viewing public and continues to lag in ratings and revenues. Ditto with Oye 104.8 which is low on the RAM roster. The rechristening from Meow to Oye may have helped shore up some numbers, but it’s not been good enough.

     

    With an investment from the Aditya Birla group helping improve its financial muscle, the TV Today was poised to grow much in the next two years. Regional channels, digitization, acquisitions, Phase 3 of FM radio were some of the plans that required nurturing. Mr Chakraborthy, who is a seasoned media professional, was to lead this effort.

     

    But now it will mean the collective efforts of Mr Bagga, chairman and editor-in-chief Aroon Purie and his daughter Kalli Purie who heads the group’s digital operations and looks at synergies within the businesses and is also Chief Creative Officer to take TV Today to the leadership position it once occupied.

     

  • Zee Entertainment executive director (revenue and niche channels) is reported to have put in his papers to take on G Krishnan's roles as TV Today Network CEO

    First (and only) on MxMIndia: Aroon Purie informs senior execs of Joy Chakraborthy’s appointment as CEO of TVTN

    By A Correspondent

     

    Joy ChakraborthyIt’s now confirmed. Mr Joy Chakraborthy, Zee’s executive director (revenue and niche channels) and a veteran media industry professional, will be the new CEO of the TV Today Network. Mr Chakraborthy takes charge of the position left vacant due to the resignation of Mr G Krishnan early last month.

    MxMIndia broke the story on Saturday, October 22 evening even as many senior executives in both media conglomerates were unaware of the development.

    On Monday evening, TV Today Network chairman and managing director Aroon Purie met senior executives of the company and announced the move. Earlier in the day, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited officially announced that Mr Joy Chakraborthy has stepped down after a stint of six-and-a half years, to explore new vistas. Along with heading the media sales, Mr Chakraborthy was also the business unit head of niche channels which includes Zee Khana Khazana, Zee Café, Zee Studio, Zee Trendz, ETC and Zing, a communiqué said. At the time of writing, there was no written communication from TV Today on Mr Chakraborty’s appointment.

    Mr Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zee) said, “I have accepted his resignation with a heavy heart. He did lead a strong team at Zee that will continue to be part of our family. The entire Zee family wishes Joy all the success in his new endeavors.”

    Speaking on his tenure at Zee, Mr Chakraborthy said, “My journey for the past six-and-a-half years has indeed been extremely rewarding and fruitful, which I shall cherish. I am thankful to Zee for giving me the opportunity to explore and broaden my experience in diversified functions. Now as I step out to expand my horizons within the media industry and take a leap of faith to venture into a world beyond Zee, I wish Zee – Chairman, Punit as well as my colleagues – the very best. Since I will be at Zee for some time, I will indeed be ensuring a smooth transition of all my portfolios.”

    ZEE will be announcing the appointment of a successor for this position in the near future.

    Information courtesy Zee corporate site: Over and above Zee, Mr Chakraborthy has rich experience of 15 years in strategic media sales across media organization like The Times of India Group and Star Network. His academic armory includes graduation from National Defence Academy, Masters in Marketing Management from NMIMS and, more recently, the Advanced Management Programme from the Harvard Business School.