MxMIndia

Tag: Nachiket Pantvaidya

  • As GM, Sony Pictures International Productions

    Sony Pictures Entertainment appoints Nachiket Pantvaidya

    Nachiket Pantvaidya
    Nachiket Pantvaidya

    Sony Pictures Entertainment appoints Nachiket Pantvaidya as General Manager of Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP).

    In this role, Nachiket will oversee local Indian production while working alongside Shony Panjikaran (General Manager and Head of Sony Pictures Releasing International, India).

    In his earlier assignments, Nachiket was Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms, Business Head of Sony Entertainment Television. He was also the Business Head of Star Plus and held several roles in the Star TV network, including Head of Star Pravah and Managing Director of Fox Television Studios. An IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, he has also held key management roles in BBC and Disney.

    Shebnem Askin, EVP, Creative Production and Head of Sony Pictures International Production said: “Sanford Panitch and I are so pleased to have Nachiket join the Sony Pictures International Productions to lead our local Indian production. These are exciting times as we take a step to make and release our biggest local slate for the Indian market in the next two years. We are most excited as Nachiket brings along not only rich industry experience but also new energy and dynamic execution skills to lead SPIP to a prime position.”

  • As Chief Operating Officer of the Digital Business

    Ruchir Khanna joins Asianet

    By Our Staff

     

    Ruchir Khanna
    Ruchir Khanna

    Asianet News Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (AMEL) has appointed Ruchir Khanna as the Chief Operating Officer of the digital business. AMEL has multiple digital brands in its portfolio including asianetnews.com, indigomusic.com etc. and serves consumers in multiple languages

     

    Khanna was Head of Product and Growth at Times Internet, the repository of everything digital of The Times of India Group. During his stint at Times Internet, he led digital growth of various properties of the group including The Times of India, NewsPoint, GadgetsNow and others. He has close to two decades of experience across product development, growth and marketing, content strategy and P&L management. Prior to his role at Times Internet, he had previous leadership stints at Hike Messenger and India Today Group and Yahoo! India.

     

    Rajesh Kalra
    Rajesh Kalra

    Said Rajesh Kalra, Executive Chairman of AMEL: “We’re building a media/ent-tech company of

     

    the future – building on our strong digital brands asianetnews.com and indigomusic.com and the significant audiences of each of these brands presently. Our mission is to significantly expand audiences of each of these brands with more innovation, content and services. Ruchir will provide significant leadership to this mission of ours. He brings with him the experience of building and growing some of the biggest and most successful digital products in India. I am really excited about the leadership team we’ve built. Ruchir joins us soon after Nachiket Pantvaidya took over as MD. We are now fully geared-up in our mission to make AMEL India’s leading Media-Entertainment Tech enterprise.”

     

  • The platform will launch a digital contest ‘AltBalaji Ka Sabse Bada Fan’

    AltBalaji celebrates second anniv with new content initiatives

    By A Correspondent

     

    AltBalaji has completed two years of operations in India. To connect with fans, the platform will launch a digital contest ‘AltBalaji Ka Sabse bada fan’, where two lucky winners will get a chance to meet their favourite star. A Twitter contest will be hosted on AltBalaji’s official handle from April 19 till 22 wherein multiple questions will be asked about the shows at regular intervals.

     

    Nachiket Pantvaidya

    Said Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO – AltBalaji and Group COO, Balaji Telefilms: “Entertaining viewers with innovative content has been the core ethos of the group and very significantly runs in the DNA of AltBalaji too. Celebrating the journey of two glorious years  is a very proud moment for us as we set foot into the third year. By constantly working on an effective content strategy to cater to individuals, we aim to ramp up our offerings in the Originals space at an exciting pace. With a total of 18 new originals across genres launched last year, the content-library is growing bigger and getting more extensive. This also reflects in our growing subscriber base, with AltBalaji consistently ranking in the three Top Grossing Apps on both iOS and Android.”

     

     

  • Dixit has joined as Senior Vice President and Head Marketing for India and International markets

    AltBalaji appoints Divya Dixit as Head of Marketing

    By A Correspondent

     

    AltBalaji has announced the appointment of Divya Dixit as Senior Vice President and Head Marketing for India and International markets. She has joined AltBalaji from Zee5.

     

    Speaking on the appointment, Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO AltBalaji and Group COO Balaji Telefilms said:“As we continue to grow the company while deepening our relationship with viewers around the globe, we also want to ensure that we have the strongest leadership team in place at AltBalaji. We are delighted to have Divya on board. She will be pivotal in driving AltBalaji’s vision of shaping and defining its leadership in the fast-growing and dynamic OTT sector. With her experience in media, entertainment and the digital space, we look forward to further capitalizing our digital expansion and I wish her all the best. All the other various marketing units operating under AltBalaji umbrella will now roll into Divya.”

     

    Commenting on the occasion, Dixit added: “AltBalaji is a leader in clutter breaking original content. It is an exciting time for OTT players, as the Indian digital landscape is exploding. I truly believe that AltBalaji will raise multiple industry benchmarks and shall continue being a dominant player in the space. I am thrilled to join the AltBalaji family and looking forward to a successful journey.”

     

     

  • ViU users are entitled to a one-month free subscription and are required to pay only Rs.160 per month thereafter

    Dialog Axiata announces content partnership with ALTBalaji

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, has announced a partnership with ALTBalaji to provide ViU app users with original Indian video content for the first time in Sri Lanka, at subsidised rates.

     

    Commenting on the tie-up, Mangala Hettiarachchi, Senior General Manager – Global and Content Services, Dialog Axiata PLC said: “The launch of the ViU app signified a new era of accessible content for Sri Lankan consumers, not only in terms of local content but regional and international as well. Dialog’s partnership with ALTBalaji strengthens our commitment to providing consumers with a host of diversified content including programming in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and more at affordable prices.”

     

    Added Nachiket Pantvaidya, Group COO and CEO ALTBalaji: “ALTBalaji is constantly working towards creating path-breaking content which caters to the Indian language urban mass audience. The response to our content so far has been overwhelming and we wish to make it available to audience inside all environments. Our association with Dialog will help us with a unique opportunity to reach out to a wide customer base and let them enjoy the content we are proud to present”

     

     

  • New shows to be available only on mobile and web, to create 250+ hrs of original content this year

    Balaji Telefilms launches OTT platform ALTBalaji

    By A Correspondent

     

    Balaji Telefilms announced its arrival in the digital world through the launch of mobile platform The platform will offer 250+ hours of original, exclusive content to its subscribers. The ad-free, subscription-based platform is now commercially available with few of these original shows.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director of Balaji Telefilms said: “Indian entertainment audience is evolving and so are we at Balaji, with ALTBalaji we are officially identifying our audience as individuals and not groups/family. We are entering into their most personal space- mobile phones and this empowers them to really watch what they want, at the time and location of their choice and not what single TV family is habituated to. ALTBalaji’s shows will open new world of home grown differentiated entertainment to the viewers with the best stories and artists.”

     

    Added Sameer Nair, Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms: “We are proud to bring ALTBalaji to the Indian viewers, this is an alternate to their regular entertainment options- TV, Bollywood Films and foreign English content. We fit right between these options and with the plummeting digital divide across Indian cities we found a perfect space to showcase our content, digital platform. We tied up with multiple partners to ensure smooth navigation and subscription payment option, creating an unparalleled user experience on the app.”

     

    Said Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO of ALTBalaji: “The most endearing feature of ALTBalaji is its content, we are launching with the promise to bring fresh and never heard of stories to our viewers. While we are starting with five shows, it will be followed by a new show every 15 days for the bingewatch-lovers.”

     

  • Sethi will be overseeing the company's entire communications strategy in India and international markets

    ALT Balaji ropes in Manav Sethi as Chief Marketing Officer

     

     

    ALT Balaji has roped in marketing veteran Manav Sethi as its Chief Marketing Officer. Sethi will be overseeing the company’s entire communications strategy in India and international markets.

     

    Said Sameer Nair, Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms: “Manav is ideally suited to support the vision we’re working towards at ALT Balaji. We are looking forward to harnessing his experience and expertise as we launch, grow and expand our footing. Manav’s role will cover a wide array of activities including Marketing and Communications, and we look forward to his leadership in shaping our journey”

     

    “We are delighted to add such an experienced resource to the ALT Balaji family. Manav not only comes with a vast experience in the field but also will add a new layer and dynamism to the team, we think. I’m sure he will only complement to our venture of creating a solid and valuable brand”, added Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO, ALT Balaji.

     

    Commented Sethi: “It’s an exciting time in the digital space and to be a part of a company since its launch always adds to the excitement. I’m looking forward to playing a part in this journey towards making ALT Balaji one of India’s leading brands”

     

  • Mangoblossom will handle brand identity & design

    Scarecrow Communications wins creative mandate of ALT Balaji

    By A Correspondent

     

    Scarecrow Communications has won the creative mandate of ALT Balaji. The agency was shortlisted after a multi-round pitch process, following which Scarecrow was brought on board.

     

    Speaking on the win, Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications, said, “Today, the entire world is shifting to the digital platform for their entertainment. Balaji Telefilms has a rich legacy of producing the most favoured content on a large scale for multiple platforms – from Television to Films. And with ALT Balaji, they’re gearing up to entertain the digital audience as well. Scarecrow is really enthused to be part of this ambitious and exciting brand vision”.

     

    Nachiket Pantvaidya

    Nachiket Pantvaidya – ALT Balaji, CEO said, “We’re excited to work with Scarecrow Communications and look forward to doing cutting edge creative work with them that will launch and build ALT Balaji for its consumers, both in India and overseas.”

     

    ALT Balaji will create highly differentiated, original digital content for the entire connected ecosystem spanning mobiles, computers, tablets, smart TVs and game stations. Through this endeavor, Balaji Telefilms will go beyond the current themes of television entertainment to set a new bench-mark with younger, edgier and smarter contemporary content.

     

    While Scarecrow will be handling creative mandate, brand identity of Alt Balaji has been created by branding and design firm Mangoblossom and brand identity has been created by Mangoblossom Design.

     

  • Ekalavya will work closely with the leadership team to define the corporate strategy for ensuring wider acceptability and success of ALT's digital initiatives

    Alt Digital Media appoints Ekalavya Bhattacharya as the Chief Strategy Officer

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ekalavya Bhattacharya

    ALT Digital Media Entertainment Ltd. (ALT Digital), a wholly owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Ltd., announced the appointment of Ekalavya Bhattacharya as the Chief Strategy Officer.ALT Digital reflects the BalajiGroup’s strategic intent to extend their creative expertise to develop on-demand, original, edgy andcontemporary content for global audiences to consume on digital platforms.

     

    Ekalavya will work closely with the leadership team todefine the corporate strategy for ensuring wider acceptability and success of ALT’s digital initiatives.

     

    Ekalavya joins ALT Digital from Viacom18 Media Private Ltd. where he was the AVP and Head – Digital, MTV India. Responsible for expanding the digital footprint of MTV India, Ekalavya’sstint at Viacom 18 saw him develop and execute strategies related to product, content, mobile, technology and marketing amongst other things. Ekalavya brings with him more than a decade of experience in the digital space and is well-versed with the country’s digital landscape. He has previously worked at other reputed digital firms like Zapak.com, Contests2Win.com, WAT Consult and PaGaLGuY.com.

     

    Commenting on his appointment, Sameer Nair, Group Chief Executive Officer, Balaji Telefilms Ltd. said, “Ekalavya comes with very strong pedigree having done some amazing work at MTV in building their digital business. We believe his disruptive attitude and business smarts are a wonderful addition to the eclectic diversity in the fast growing ALT Digital Team.”

     

    Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO, ALT Digital Media Entertainment Ltd. said,“We welcome Ekalavya to ALT – his experience and diverse skill sets will help us formulate and drive our strategy across our business operations. He will enrich the already strong team at ALT as we prepare to launch our service in India and globally.”

     

  • Ajay Bhalwankar, who had quit Zee recently, will be joining Sony Entertainment Television (SET) as Chief Creative Director wef April 7

    Zee-Sony-Zee & now Sony again. Ajay Bhalwankar is back at Zee, er, Sony, to be Chief Creative Dir, SET

    By A Correspondent

     

    If you thought Zee-Sony-Zee-Sony was part of the lyrics of a new Yo Yo Honey Singh chartbuster, pause for a minute. It’s the story of our own Ajay Bhalwankar. Mr Bhalwankar, who had quit Zee recently, will be joining Sony Entertainment Television (SET) as Chief Creative Director. He is expected to join on April 7 and will report to Nachiket Pantvaidya, Senior Executive Vice-President & Business Head of MSM’s flagship channel. In this role, Mr AB will provide creative leadership and direction for the channel. He will lead the Programming and OAP teams.

     

    With over two decades of experience first in journalism and then at Zee for a long period (1994-2009), for a bit with Sony (SET, 2009-2011) and then again with Zee as Content Head-Hindi GECs.

     

    Announcing the appointment, Senior EVP and Business Head, SET, Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “Ajay is an extremely experienced individual with a rich experience of over 20 years in Journalism and Television, spanning various roles of creating, writing, programming, producing and directing entertainment content. Under Ajay’s leadership I am confident that we will make the right strides towards our vision of best in class content for SET.”

     

    Said Mr Bhalwankar: “I’m delighted to join SET again and hope to provide valuable programming inputs across content on the channel. It is an extremely challenging role and I am looking forward to this exciting journey.”

     

  • With a headline as long as this, do you need a summary 🙂

    Rejig @ MSM. Frmr Star Plus head Pantvaidya to steer SET. Sneha Rajani to watch on movies, Anooj ‘Sab’ Kapoor to also head new venture

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s been in the work as per the grapevine. Multi-Screen Media Private Limited (MSM) has announced that Sneha Rajani, will assume the position of Deputy President and Head, MSM Motion Pictures. Nachiket Pantvaidya, who has recently joined the network, takes over as Senior. Executive VP & Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television (SET). Anooj Kapoor, will assume additional responsibilities as Senior Executive VP and Business Head, SAB, and also a new initiative in the Hindi entertainment space.

     

    NP Singh

    Said N P Singh, CEO, MSM on the announcement, “I am certain that Sneha, Nachiket and Anooj will revitalize and provide fresh perspective to their respective areas of responsibility. Each brings unique strengths to grow the business and we wish them the best in their new roles. I am confident that 2014 will be a year of innovation and growth for MSM.”

     

    Ms Rajani, who has been Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television, will have end-to-end responsibility for MSM Motion Pictures and will chart the success and future of that business as a key force in movie production. She has been associated with MSM for over 15 years and has previously been Business Head, Max, which she launched and led for 10 years before assuming responsibility of the flagship GEC.

     

    Mr Pantvaidya who was the Business Head of Star Plus and also held several roles in the Star India network, including being the Head of Star Pravah and MD of FOX Television Studios will now head SET. An IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, Nachiket has had stints with BBC and Disney in the past. He has also held several positions in MSM from 1996 to 2004.

     

    Meanwhile, Mr Kapoor will With the success of SAB, Anooj has demonstrated capability for building differentiated audiences for the network. Anooj has been with MSM since 2007. Prior to joining MSM, Anooj worked with Colgate Palmolive as product manager, Lowe Lintas as Creative Director and also ran his own production advertising company. He has a Masters in English Literature and a MBA from SP Jain Institute of Management Studies.

     

  • The appointment was announced along with the news of business head, Hindi channels, Star India, Nitin Vaidya putting down his papers on Friday after a stint of only 14 months

    Nachiket Pantvaidya to replace Nitin Vaidya as head of Star Plus

    Nachiket Pantvaidya

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nachiket Pantvaidya, Executive VP and general manager at Star India and incharge of Star Pravah, the Marathi GEC of the Star bouquet of channels, has been appointed as incharge of flagship GEC Star Plus.

     

    Confirming the appointment, a spokesperson told MxMIndia that Mr Pantvaidya will take over from Nitin Vaidya who has put in his papers after a stint of 14 months.

     

    Mr Pantvaidya has been with the group since 2009 when he was appointed managing director of Fox Television Studios, the TV production unit of Newscorp’s Fox Entertainment Group. Earlier, he has been general manager,South Asia with the BBC and Executive Director, Programming and Production, for Disney where he managed the localisation of the Disney brands. An IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, Mr Pantvaidya has held several key positions MSM (Sony) network.

     

    Nitin Vaidya

    Meanwhile, confirming the news to MxMIndia about his resignation, Mr Nitin Vaidya said: “Yes, I have quit and it has been a nice and exciting experience. Star is a great organization to work with and the team has been remarkable.” Mr Vaidya had joined Star India in May 2011 and was heading Hindi channels Star Plus, Star One (which is now discontinued), Star Gold and Star Utsav.

     

    On his next move, Mr Vaidya said: “I have plans of my own and as of now I’m not joining anywhere for the moment.” Without disclosing any dates, Mr Vaidya assured that only after a smooth transition will he move on from the organization.

     

    Nitin Vaidya, Photograph: Fotocorp