MxMIndia

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  • Yes, and he is party to his channel’s actions in the recent past, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Is Group CEO Vikas Khanchandani paying the price for Republic TV’s journalism?

     

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    On Sunday, December 13, 2020, Republic Media Network Group Chief Executive Officer Vikas Khanchandani had stepped out on his morning walk in suburban Mumbai. A little after 8am, when he got back home, there was a police contingent waiting for him. He was arrested on the TRP Scam case that has been raging in the industry for a few months. There was some hope still since the matter was going to come for hearing in the presence of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, but rather than secure bail or release, he was remanded to police custody till tomorrow (December 15).

     

    Khanchandani is the fourth Republic TV employee who has been arrested by the Mumbai police including founder, editor-in-chief and managing director Arnab Goswami. Last week, he was summoned several times by the police for questioning.

     

    So what is Khanchandani’s crime?

     

    1. He is Group CEO of Republic Media Network, and is hence responsible for all business functions of the organisation. He reports to Arnab Goswami who is also managing director and the primary promoter.

     

    2. As per the Companies Act of 2013, the law clearly lists  the key managerial personnel included – in this order: The MD or CEO or Manager and in their absence: a whole-time director. These are followed by the Company Secretary and then the Chief Financial Officer. In Republic’s case, the MD and promoter is the key official, but guess arresting him again would be too hot to handle

     

    3. The police says that as Group CEO and to whom Chief Operating Officer Priya Mukherjee reported, Khanchandani instructed her and the team on all the allegedly illegal actions.

     

    4. Republic TV, as per the police claims, had allegedly indulged in activities that regulatory body TRAI (short for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) frowns upon

     

    It may be noted that Khanchandani was arrested a day before his anticipatory bail application was to be heard by the Sessions Court in Mumbai. He was represented by Senior Advocate and Republic TV’s lawyer, Aabad Ponda.

     

    So what you have above is the official stand, but it’s clear that Khanchandani was arrested given the ongoing slugfest on between Goswami and the Maharashtra government and Mumbai Police. Both have been equally critical of each other, but Goswami has gone a step further to damn and provoke the government and the Police Commissioner. On air. In English and in Hindi.

     

    Logically, Khanchandani should have had the industry come out in support. This writer was among the first to do that, only to be ridiculed and questioned on Twitter that Khanchandani was party to all the excesses of Goswami on television. The media trial that happened post the actor Sushant Singh Rajput death and the manner in which Rajput’s friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty was being targeted ensured that even Goswami’s well-wishers (like this writer) turned against him.

     

    And then there is Goswami’s very open praise of the BJP-led NDA government’s policies and actions. While the channel owner may say that it’s his nationalism that governs him, it’s a clear pursuit of ratings (nothing wrong with it) and commerce at all cost that is driving him. Thankfully for him, the BJP is firmly in the saddle till mid-2024, but the result is that all the goodwill that the channel and its founder have had had has been lost. Khanchandani, as Goswami’s second-in-command, bears the brunt of this legacy.

     

    Sample the tweet by Raj Nayak, a senior mediaperson who is known to be a friend and mentor to Khanchandani: “I am really saddened by the arrest of my dear friend #VikasKhanchandani. We’ve been close for over 2 decades. I can vouch for his integrity. His only fault being at the wrong place at the wrong time and getting caught in the crossfire. Praying that he is safe and released soon.”

     

    I am really saddened by the arrest of my dear friend #VikasKhanchandani. We’ve been close for over 2 decades. I can vouch for his integrity. His only fault being at the wrong place at the wrong time and getting caught in the crossfire.  Praying that he is safe and released soon.

    — Raj Nayak (@rajcheerfull) December 13, 2020

     

     

    Let’s read this line from Nayak’s tweet again: His only fault being at the wrong place at the wrong time and getting caught in the crossfire.

     

    Clearly, there is nothing that’s left unsaid. Khanchandani is a good guy, but at the wrong place – Republic Media Network.

     

    So what must be done:

     

    1. Khanchandani, his family and friends and the industry must prevail upon Goswami to cease and desist from provoking the government and courts any longer. On Sunday, when the Court order came in, Goswami was on air and was virtually questioning the Court verdict. If it is examined for Contempt of Court and found to disobeying the judiciary, Khanchandani could have problems. In fact, if the government is provoked further, it will only delay the decision to free Khanchandani

     

    2. This is a personal and professional decision, but it’s time that Khanchandani and all right-thinking (right as in correct and not the politically right) people working with Republic Media Network weigh how their continuance in the organisation impacts their moral and legal standing.

     

    My tweet expressing sadness at Khanchandani’s arrest and assertion that he has a squeaky clean reputation had some who endorsed his professional standards but also drew some angry feedback. Sample this: “… the fact remains that he has been part of a hate factory that has been selling ads to promote more hate based on gaming the system because of inefficiencies”.

     

    Sad to see @republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani being arrested. I have known him for many years and can say he’s squeaky clean. Yes, he works with Republic. But is that his primary crime? @VickMaverick @rajcheerfull @TheAdClub_India @IAA_India

    — Pradyuman Maheshwari (@pmahesh) December 13, 2020

     

    Another comment said: “… would you say that he somewhere profited when the whole SSR debacle was taking place on his network, where the so called ‘guilty’ were charged even before a proper trial. Even if he did what he did while being aware of the right or wrong then I guess Karma’s a bitch.”

     

    The decision on what next is clearly with Goswami and Khanchandani. And whether Khanchandani spends two or more days depends on how Goswami conducts himself. On television.

     

    He was an excellent journalist, is well-educated, has impeccable social skills, but when he’s on camera and in his studio, he’s a different being.

     

    The Shiv Sena-led MVA government has such stalwarts like Sharad Pawar mentoring it. The fact that the combine could outwit a BJP with superpowers like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah speaks volumes for what they can achieve.

     

    Sadly, Khanchandani and his family are paying the price for all of Goswami’s actions.

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is a senior journalist and media commentator. He is also Founder and Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia. His views here are personal

     

  • The need of the hour is to get mad as hell, writes Shruti Pushkarna

    Shruti Pushkarna | World Disability Day: What will it take to change the status quo?

    Shruti PushkarnaBy Shruti Pushkarna

     

    As I write this piece, I’m experiencing a mixed set of emotions. I’m thrilled because I have managed to nearly complete a year of this column on ‘Media and Disability’. At the same time I’m sort of disillusioned, thinking if this fortnightly exercise has made any real difference for persons with disabilities. I’m saddened because the media or the society doesn’t much care about vulnerable groups and their respective challenges. But more than anything I’m angry.

     

    Change is not easy to come. I’m aware. But I’m angry at how little has changed in the past several years in this age of information boom and 24X7 news. Also despite the new empowering laws and policies that gave us hope of better times to come.

     

    As a society we haven’t even gone beyond thinking of disability as a karmic fallout. Seriously, what is wrong with us? Typecasting aside, we look at persons with disabilities as lesser mortals who deserve to be where they are. Religious leaders, spiritual gurus, even parents of disabled children and the masses believe and propagate so. The media only goes a tiny step further embellishing them with either a heroic or pitiful portrayal.

     

    Across the globe, December 3 is observed as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This year, the focus is on spreading awareness about not only the obviously visible disabilities but also the less apparent ones, with the hope to build a more inclusive world. There is a special emphasis on creating a sustainable and accessible post-Covid environment for everyone.

     

    Here in India, it feels like a distant dream. Last year this day, I wrote on ‘What Media Must Do’ vis-à-vis not leaving the disabled out of the mainstream discourse’. Maybe I should recycle the same commentary, as it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Through the year, I have raised several pertinent issues pertaining to different types of disabilities, the difficulties faced by them in spaces of work, education, entertainment and the apathy that seeps through the cultural fabric of our country.

     

    The frustration that all of us faced after being locked down for a few months due to the spread of Covid-19 comes nowhere close to what disabled people go through every single day, living on the periphery, discarded by the mainstream, excluded by their community, denied the opportunity to exercise their abilities.

     

    Let’s face it. It’s a thoroughly unequal, unjust and imbalanced state of affairs. Strange parallel coexistence of those who binge-watch ‘Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives’ and people who are refused mere 35kg of ration despite the Delhi High Court orders for the disabled to be included under the National Food Security Act.

     

    Not only are people unaware of each other’s alternate realities, our media coverage is even more lopsided. For a very long time, I believed that the media had the responsibility and obligation of operating in public interest. As a former journalist, I swore by it. But today everything is about ratings, demographics, market share and monies.

     

    It’s all about the content that sells. And the content that sells hardly costs anything to produce. So why invest money in investigating and reporting real issues and accounts when the objective is to run a profit division? Instead of giving a voice to the weak and ignored sections of the population, the media is feeding our guilty pleasures and morbid fascinations.

     

    Covid-19 has changed a great deal in terms of how we work, educate our children, or engage with friends and family. Apart from all the perils, we have discovered new ways of functioning. From a disability perspective, the gap that existed especially in education and employment has somewhat been bridged. Due to innovations in technology, disabled people are empowered to study and work alongside able-bodied peers in the comfort of their homes. The virtual mode of operation has removed the physical barriers, opening doors for inclusion.

     

    Most Disability Advocates believe we have made more progress in the last 10 months than in the past decade. While this is a promising opportunity created by the pandemic, the ableist world has to take note and build accessible products and infrastructure.

     

    It again comes down to awareness and the will to include. We are crippled by our individual attitudinal disability, which dissuades us from acknowledging the needs of another. The truth is we like to be ignorant. We prefer being so because it’s easy. As long as it doesn’t affect us, it’s not worth talking about. Our content consumption habits and social media patterns reflect the narcissistic bubbles we exist in.

     

    The country needs to be pulled out of eternal slumber. We need to get angry at the status quo, at the injustice, at the skewed coverage of issues. I’m reminded of the famous speech from the1976 movie Network where Howard Beale (Peter Finch) says: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this any more. I want you to get up right now. Sit up. Go to your windows. Open them and stick your head out and yell.”

     

    The question is whether the country will join in. Can the media lead the citizens in a rallying cry for change?

     

    Shruti Pushkarna heads operations of the New Delhi-based Score Foundation where she works as Director-Programmes & Communications. She is a former journalist (part of the founding team of MxMIndia) who has moved full-time to the social sector. Shruti writes for MxMIndia every other Thursday. Her views here are personal. She can be reached via Twitter at @shrutipushkarna

     

     

  • The Wavemaker CEO – South Asia speaks on the GroupM agency's three years in India, his journey at the helm, Gurugram v/s Mumbai, and the rivalry with sibling Mindshare

    MxM Live with Ajay Gupte

     

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Wavemaker India celebrates its third anniversary on Monday, November 9, and we speak with Ajay Gupte, CEO – South Asia, Wavemaker, on the occasion.

     

    Gupte took charge in January 2020, and we know of the tumultuous times across the world after that. A coincidence of course. The marketing services business was badly hit given the events and advertising spends going south post that.

     

    But in this period, Wavemaker – part of WPP’s GroupM network – has managed to reinvent itself and forge ahead, says Gupte. There is a beefing up of the top deck. Some noteworthy work. And development of analytical tools that are now adopted within Wavemaker global framework.

     

    In a freewheeling interview with MxMIndia Founder and Editor-in-Chief Pradyuman Maheshwari, Ajay Gupte speaks on a cross-section of issues around the business, around Wavemaker, his settling back into the country, the job, Gurugram versus Mumbai, the rivalry with sibling Mindshare. And more.

     

    Watch. Enjoy. Like.

     

  • Bhuvi Gupta picks things that have caught her eye in the last fortnight

    Bhuvi Gupta: On Fesive sales, Micromax & Hooked by Nir Eyal

    Bhuvi GuptaBy Bhuvi Gupta

     

    Today’s column is a bit different from my usual deep dive into a single topic, with some thoughts from my notepad about things that have caught my eye in the last fortnight.

     

    2020 has been strange, to say the least, and I, like most, have been awaiting the festival season to celebrate and feel some joy. A sentiment shared by the corporate sector, which depends on this quarter for their profits, but this year, it’s depending on it for minimising losses. The initial reports are showing signs of recovery and buoying positive sentiment. According to data from Redseer Consulting, the first week of festive sales conducted in the last fortnight has seen an increase of 51% in Gross Merchandise Value  (from $2.7 billion in 2019 to $4.1 billion). While this is partly also fuelled by offline consumption moving online, the economy is heaving a sigh of relief.

     

    Micromax’s Comeback

    You might have seen Micromax’s relaunch campaign helmed by the CEO, Rahul Sharma.  With more than half a million people yet to go online in India, combined with the high replacement rates for smartphone for people, the smartphone categpry is and will be on fire for the coming decade at least. Every year the festive e-commerce sales also depend on smartphone sales with the category contributing upwards of 40% to the GMV. Coming back to Micromax, India’s Number 1 homegrown smartphone brand, in the relaunch video (link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRo69b1wTNg), Rahul Sharma plays all the cards which are sure to strike a chord in the average Indian’s heart – he talks about being a middle class boy who took a loan of 3 lakh from his father to launch Micromax, but with the onslaught of Chinese smartphone makers stumbled, and lost his way, vision and subsequently market share. He touches on the ‘Make in India’ call to rouse audiences to buy the new series aptly titled ‘In’

     

    The problem of course is that the story, while compelling omits certain points Micromax built its market share on the back of great marketing.  It took China-manufactured phones and branded them as Micromax devices. As a result, because of a lack of R&D, the after-sales service and support was negligible – a weak point which all the China mobile behemoths took full advantage of to wipe out market share (and rightly so, after-sales service is crucial for an essential device like a phone). He also forgets to mention his marriage to Bollywood/ Kollywood/ Tollywood star Asin, which makes his description of the middle-class boy-next-door a little hard to stomach, as these descriptors no longer hold true.

     

    While the majority of the market is oblivious to these facts, and these points will work, I am sure it will give competition to the Chinese behemoths which control the smartphone market for a large part today.

     

    Hooked by Nir Eyal

    The advent of the internet has brought with it great changes in marketing in the last decade. A key differential of the digital evolution as compared to the TV evolution is how understanding consumer behaviour has become easier. This in turn has lead to building products, which fit target audiences better. The concept is beautifully explained in my latest read, ‘Hooked’ by Nir Eyal.

     

    Eyal has explained the consumption process through a four step model – a internal trigger like a frisson of anxiety or external trigger such as an ad, which leads us to the action of logging into social media like Facebook or Twitter, which through previous interaction, we know will reward us by showing us our posts which has been liked, or content which is of interest to us, thereby assuaging our anxiety.

     

    Such feedback loops help in establishing habits, which make these products so addictive. The fourth quadrant which focuses on ‘Investment’ explains why such habits are so hard to break – users invest time and build a community of friends and followers which feeds these feedback loops and creates stickiness to the platform.

     

    While the book focuses on digital products like Facebook, the concepts can be applied to other industries and products. All in all a great read on understanding consumer behaviour and psychology.

     

    That’s all from me today. Do share if you have read ‘Hooked’ or whether I have inspired you to pick up a copy.

     

    Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She will write on A&M (mostly marketing, but often on advertising too) every other Tuesday. Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3

     

     

  • Send us your nominations by December 1, 2020 at pradyumanm@mxmindia.com

    45 Days to MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s November 3. The 308th day of 2020, and there are just 58 days left in 2020. And more importantly 45 days to December 18, the day when we are scheduled to announce the 2020 MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year.

    So who do you think will it be? Will there be anyone at all? We have a part-shortlist readers and invite readers to send us their nominations or suggestions of names. Nominations are welcome till December 1, 2020. Please send them directly to pradyuamanm [at] mxmindia.com. Your name and reasons, if any, will be kept confidential.

    As our readers are aware, over the last few years, the MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year has earned the reputation of being the most credible barometer of the highest performer(s) in the fields of advertising, media and marketing in India in a calendar year.

    Realising that many award shows are held at the end of the year and hence there is a tendency to only recall and accord importance to those who make an impact in the latter part of the year. MxMIndia instituted a process where we reviewed people and entities through the year by having periodic reviews and compiling the various high performers at the end of June. We did that many times in 2019. This year, we must confess, we haven’d done any reviews. But we’ve been doing it, and have had two sessions on it already.

    Last year’s winner of the accolade was Sidharth Rao on his rise and rise in the Indian creative world. For mainstreaming digital. In 2018, it was Piyush Pandey and in the previous year, it was Arnab Goswami for the launch of Republic TV. In 2016, we had Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia CEO Ashish Bhasin and for 2015 it was the BARC India core team of Punit Goenka, Shashi Sinha and Partho Dasgupta.

    As we said earlier, this year, the award will be presented online (on MxMIndia) on Friday, December 18, 2020. Wait for it.

     

     

  • Taranjeet Singh, MD, SE Asia & India at Criteo, speaks on the digital adspends, third-party measurement and more

    Future (& Present) Bright 4 Digital Spends

     

    One of the few media professionals at the top who have had hands-on experience across all sectors – print, television, digital and OTT until earlier this year, Taranjeet Singh is Managing Director, Southeast Asia (SEA) and India of Criteo. Criteo is a global tech company working with top marketers for their advertising needs. That’s over 20,000 customers and thousands of publishers across the globe.

    Singh joined Criteo while the lockdown was on, after a breezy near-two-year run heading business at Zee5. And before that he was at BBC Worldwide, Outlook Publishing, The Pioneer and a short stint at NIIT. He is based in New Delhi.

    Taranjeet Singh spoke with MxMIndia Editor-in-Chief Pradyuman Maheshwari on a variety of issues around digital media – on adspends versus print and television, on third-party measurement and the overall outlook for the sector. And of course9+0-

    also around what Criteo has been doing.

    Watch. Enjoy. Like.

     

  • The media agency biggies joined Network Advertising as Executive Directors. Don't miss a conversation they had with Pradyuman Maheshwari, MxMIndia Founder and Editor-in-Chief

    MxM Live with Harish Shriyan & Amit Ray

    By A Correspondent

     

    Harish Shriyan
    Amit Ray

    Media agency captains Harish Shriyan and Amit Ray have a candid conversation with MxMIndia founder and editor-in-chief Pradyuman Maheshwari.

    Shriyan was until earlier this year, Group CEO of the Omnicom Media Group. Prior to that he held leadership positions in MediaCom and has managed the portfolios of global giants like Renault, Nissan, HP, Volkswagen, Beiersdorf, Vivo, Sony Pictures, Johnson & Johnson among others and Indian biggies like Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra, Arvind Mills and Parle Agro. Ray has headed media agency operations at Mudra and Lintas Media Group, among others and worked with multinationals like Unilever and Nestle and Indian corporations like ITC and Reliance Jio. He has been the longest-serving Chairman of the Technical Committee at the MRUC and is a specialist in measurement science. Watch. Enjoy. Like.

     

     

     

  • If you see the dark clouds behind our anniversary emblem, it’s because these have been tough times, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    MxMIndia is 9. Delighted

     

    It’s our ninth anniversary. MxMIndia was born on Onam 2011, September 9, to be precise. Committed to prove to the world that it’s possible to conduct oneself in B2B journalism without compromising on integrity. Sans any quid pro quo.

     

    If you see the dark clouds behind our anniversary emblem, it’s because these have been tough times. Very, very tough. The pandemic-led lockdown could’ve virtually killed us. Our revenues were down to 25% of what we were pre-Covid. And as you would know, the economy was in a shambles even before Covid. In fact the lockdown has been a facesaver.

     

    We didn’t retrench anyone. Yes, we did request for some pay cuts, but no job cuts. No furloughs. We used up our reserves in the lockdown period to pay salaries, and rent. We partnered our industry partners through this. We owe it to them. We gave up our office space last month, but only after we figured that there’s no stopping the pandemic scare.

     

    We also started doing video interviews. We didn’t do a webinar a day, but we chose to plough back our energies on content. We introduced new columns. We are proud of the fact that along with core A&M issues, we also look at concerns like disability and media literacy.

     

    But it’s not easy to survive in the mess that prevails (and proliferates). Several times, we have been told that without favourable content, we won’t get any revenues. A few months back, the marketing head of one of India’s largest news television networks told our sales team that the PR head has instructed not to advertise on MxM given that we’ve been critical of its content. Yes, we were actually told this.

     

    It would’ve been easy for us to give in. We didn’t. We’d rather give up on advertising revenues than let our content be compromised. We are very keen on making monies but we are clearly not for sale. We are happy to embrace advertisers to sell our advertising inventory. Not our editorial…

     

    MxM is decidedly not meant for the media professional looking for news on appointments and account announcements. We aren’t into pop analyses asking five people to comment on an issue. Instead we offer commentary from top professionals in the business. And some superior young and discerning folk too.

     

    It’s our ninth anniversary. We wish to thank all the people who’ve been associated with us through this period. My sincere thanks to all our staff, columnists, writers, the industries we deal with, friends in the media, our technology partners and of course our advertisers, our benfactors. The families of all those working with us. And mine.

     

    Our primary allegiance though was and will always be to our readers. They come first.

     

    Here’s wishing all of us the very best, until our tenth.

     

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Founder, Editor-in-Chief and CEO

    MxMIndia

     

    Mumbai, September 9, 2020

  • The platform that tracks the Indian media like few others do will be back from Sept 18. No-holds-barred. Bindaas

    Mediaah! will be back. Wef Friday, Sept 18

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    So Mediaah has been around in the last nine years of MxMIndia. But not very regularl. Once in a blue moon.

     

    Given the circumstances in which the Indian media finds itself today, we believe the time is right to be back.

     

    Present the news with Mediaah’s very own style of commentary.

     

    The only difference this time around is that we are considering putting it behind a paywall. So you will need to pay to read. There will be a monthly and annual plan for the same. This is also our way to experiment with content behind a paywall.

     

    Friday, September 18 is the date.

     

    Wait for it. It will be fun.

     

    PS: And, yes: khabardaar!

     

  • #1 yet again, the Republic Media Network MD & editor-in-chief in a freewheeling chat with Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Arnab Goswami Unplugged

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    For the second consecutive week, Republic Bharat has been the numero uno Hindi news channel as per data provided by BARC. In Week 33 – which is August 15 to 21, 2020, Republic Bharat is ahead of all other Hindi news channels in terms of weekly impressions in the overall, rural and urban segments as per info on the BARC website (see chart below).

     

    Source: BARC India. Week 33: Aug 15-21, 2020. HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals

    The Republic business team also furnished us with data which highlights its performance given some slicing of demographics and we’ve requested BARC to ratify it. If and when we get the approval, we will carry it here.

     

     

    While the reason for this red hot interview was the success of Republic Bharat in the ratings roster and hence the emergence of Republic as the #1 news network in these two key languages, when you are chatting with an Arnab Goswami, you can’t not stray into issues like his journalism, the noise factor on his shows, charges of his BJP bias, etc etc.

     

    So did we do an Arnab on Arnab? No, we didn’t. We let him speak. We didn’t interject. No change in body language to put him on the defensive. This interview was done in a flash. We had to set up the Zoom call in less than five minutes. So we weren’t armed with specific instances when he has stretched himself on telly. So if were to judge it ourselves, yes, we could’ve have been tougher on him. Grilled him.

     

    But, then, we aren’t Arnab Goswami. MxMIndia editor-in-chief Pradyuman Maheshwari interviewed him the way he normally conducts other interviews. Asked him the relevant questions, joked around a bit.

     

    It’s not an Arnab on Arnab. It’s an MxM with Arnab. And Arnab let Pradyuman speak. Ha ha. Watch. Enjoy. Like.

     

    If you’d like to share this others, you can share this link. Or if you want to only share the Youtube link, please take this: http://bit.ly/mxmwitharnab

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • The award will be presented on Friday, December 18, 2020

    2020 MxMIndia Person of the Year

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    We should’ve carried this notice earlier, but it’s been a crazy year. For a few weeks, we weren’t even sure if we would last out these terrible times.

     

    As our readers are aware, over the last few years, the MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year has earned the reputation of being perhaps the most credible barometer of the highest performer(s) in the fields of advertising, media and marketing in India in a calendar year.

     

    It’s July 29, 2020 today. The 211th day of this calendar year. And 155 days to go in the year. Will it get better? Could it get worse?

     

    Well, realising that many award shows are held at the end of the year and hence there is a tendency to only recall and accord importance to those who make an impact in the latter part of the year. MxMIndia instituted a process where we reviewed people and entities through the year by having periodic reviews and compiling the various high performers at the end of June. We did that many times in 2019. This year, we must confess, we haven’d done any reviews. Although, frankly, for a while, we had all the time in the world. But, as the movie title says, we weren’t sure if: kal ho na ho!

     

    But no more delays. Our first review will happen in early August.

     

    Last year’s winner of the accolade was Sidharth Rao on his rise and rise in the Indian creative world. For mainstreaming digital. In 2018, it was Piyush Pandey and in the previous year, it was Arnab Goswami for the launch of Republic TV. In 2016, we had Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia CEO Ashish Bhasin and for 2015 it was the BARC India core team of Punit Goenka, Shashi Sinha and Partho Dasgupta.

     

    So who do you think will it be this year? We don’t know, and, frankly, it’s too early to even attempt forecasting and guessing the winner of the title. We also do know if there is enough scope for people to achieve much.

     

    But, having said that, there are two or three names in the bag. If you’d like us to consider any name, write to us at editor [at] mxmindia.com or even call or whatsapp us, if you have our coordinates.

     

    This year, the award will be presented on Friday, December 18, 2020. There have been suggestions that we should conduct a ground-level event for the same. Perhaps we will. Perhaps we won’t. Wait for a decision on that.

     

     

  • In the fifth episode of the MxM Live Leadership Series, TV9 CEO Barun Das speaks on how it’s incorrect to make allegations on rigging ratings

    MxM Live: TV9 CEO Barun Das responds to naysayers

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Over the last few weeks, there have been rumblings in the news broadcast world given the sudden rise of Hindi news channel of TV9 Bharatvarsh. The network’s CEO Barun Das spoke with Pradyuman Maheshwari, Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia on specific allegations levelled by rivals.

     

    Watch the video for more

     

    Das is an alumnus of IIT Madras, IIM Calcutta and the London School of Economics and has over 25 years of experience in the media sector, both in India and abroad.

     

    His last corporate assignment was with Zee News Ltd (now Zee Media Corporation Ltd) as its CEO where he held that position for five years. Prior to this, he held leadership positions at MCCS (now ABP Network), the India Today Group, ABP etc. He has worked as Head of International Business at Astro All Asia, Networks Plc. Kuala Lumpur. After his stint in Zee, Das turned an entrepreneur and build his start up focusing on the convergence of technology, content and healthcare.