NDTV Convergence beefs up senior team for global plans

The company is looking at increasing its relevance to a global audience and has hired two people with international experience

NDTV Convergence, the new media arm of NDTV Group, has appointed two senior people to drive its plans for global expansion. Sanjay Balasundaram has been appointed senior vice-president, business development, and Gagan Sharma, chief technology officer.

NDTV Convergence beefs up senior team for global plans

Sanjay Balasundaram

Sanjay Balasundaram is an entrepreneur who has experience of 18 years in launching products and services in international markets. Prior to this, he was senior director for product marketing at Avaya. Before Avaya, he was a senior product manager at Lucent Technologies. Balasundaram is also the founder and president of KeenOwl Books, which publishes children’s books.

Gagan Sharma has more than 19 years of experience and has served with companies such as Goldman Sachs, UBS, Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Celestar.

Sanjay Trehan

Speaking to afaqs! about the appointments, Sanjay Trehan, chief executive officer, NDTV Convergence, says, “The mandate for Balasundaram is to develop and grow the business with specific emphasis on alternate revenue streams. This could include tieups with global majors. The idea is to bring in the global best practices of these managers and incorporate them in the company.”

Trehan adds that the portal, NDTV.com, is currently undergoing a revamp to “make it a major news portal in the world”. The revamp is planned over the next six months and Trehan says the company is looking at syndicating with its parent company, NBC Universal.

The company also appointed Arunava Sinha chief product officer recently. Sinha was previously chief product officer at Ibibo (MIH India). At NDTV Convergence, Sinha will be responsible for incorporating “social news” on the NDTV portal, says Trehan.

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