Mumbai : Star India has announced major changes at its top management level with elevations and new appointments in various roles.
While, Amit Chopra, who was heading sales for the Star Network, has been promoted as Head of Revenue for Star Network, Krishnan Kutty has been promoted as Head of Distribution and Rajeev Beotra will be taking over the combined sales responsibilities of both Star Entertainment and Star Sports channels. Anil Jayaraj from Pidilite Industries has joined the network and will be taking over from Beotra as Head of Ad Sales for Star Sports.
In his new role, Chopra will be responsible for driving both the distribution and ad sales business of Star’s entertainment and sports channels. In an internal mail, Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, said, “We hope that Amit will bring his usual strategic approach to distribution and help us transform it and make it ready for the next leap of growth. Traditionally, Star has been remarkably successful in building an ad sales engine that has brought enormous value not just for Star, but has also created a foundation for other broadcasters in the country to follow. Our view is that the next big opportunity for value creation lies in the distribution unit of the business and there can be no one better to spearhead this than Amit, who will continue to be mentored and guided by Sanjay Gupta.”
The note added that Chopra’s partner in reshaping Star’s affiliate business will be Krishnan Kutty, who has been promoted as Head of Distribution with immediate effect. “Kutty’s has been a remarkable story – he is one of the most successful all-rounders of Star India for the last several years and has played a key role in fixing our reach challenges and subsequently leading the strategy for overall distribution,” Shankar added.
He further said, “Some of you may also recall that Kutty was instrumental in the transition of our broadcasting operations from Hong Kong to India and the launch of our HD channels. I am confident that together, Kutty and Amit will create a 21st century channel distribution machine for Star India that would soon become the model for the rest of the industry to emulate.”
Rajeev Beotra, who joined the network in December 2013 as Head of Advertising Sales in Sports, is getting a larger role. “Rajeev will be taking over the combined sales responsibilities of both Star Entertainment and Star Sports channels – by far the biggest and most exciting sales portfolio in the media industry. Given his strategic intent and high relationship orientation, I am confident that there is no better person for this job, which once again sets the industry’s agenda for advertising sales besides powering Star Network’s growth,” Shankar elaborated.
Anil Jayaraj had been heading marketing at Pidilite Industries since June 2010. Prior to that, he was Marketing Director at BP from October 2007.
