BBC makes three new appointments

The appointments are in line with the company’s plans to strengthen its global channels’ business operations in the South Asian region

BBC Worldwide has made three appointments to strengthen its global channels’ business operations in South Asia. Jasdeep Pannu has been brought in as director of programming, Shaalu Wadhwa comes in as director of marketing and communications, and Abhijeet Deolekar takes charge as creative director.

Pannu will be responsible for all aspects of programming and scheduling for the channels in South Asia; he took on the reigns in January and is based in Mumbai. He began his career at New Delhi Television (NDTV) as producer for entertainment and infotainment, before joining STAR Sports and later, Sahara One, as creative director. With 10 years of television production experience, he has worked across varied genres and formats, including ideation, interactive programming, reality and factual programming. Prior to joining BBC Worldwide, Pannu was head of programming for Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, where his responsibilities included delivering programming strategies, acquiring content, developing Discovery Channel’s first India productions and supervising promotional campaigns.

Wadhwa takes charge this month. With eight years’ experience in product development, brand communication, trade and business development and profit centre management, she will be responsible for implementing the marketing and communications strategy for BBC Worldwide’s new channels in India. Prior to joining BBC Worldwide, she was marketing director with Nickelodeon India (a subsidiary of MTV Networks) and instrumental in re-launching the brand and developing the architecture of its positioning. She has also worked with Dakini Books Publishing House in New York and as associate director, marketing, at Cartoon Network India (of the Turner Group).

Deolekar will build on-air strategies and on-air branding for BBC’s new channels in India. With more than 12 years’ experience in the field of ad filmmaking and broadcast design, he has produced and edited some well known series for Zoom Television and SAB TV. As senior producer, he has supervised a team of designers to create channel packaging and created packaging and promotional material.

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