India TV launches interactive arm

It has appointed Arvind Mahendru senior vice-president, new media, to manage its digital foray

India TV, the 24 hour news channel based in Noida, has launched a separate company, India TV Interactive (ITVI), to extend its presence through the Internet, mobile and interactive television platforms. It has appointed Arvind Mahendru senior vice-president, new media, to manage its digital foray.

Mahendru will report to Ritu Dhawan, managing director, India TV. Earlier, Mahendru was managing partner of Interaction, the digital agency of Group M.

Speaking to afaqs!, Mahendru says, “ITVI is a larger foray across the Internet and mobile value added services (VAS) space. We are still in the process of finalising our new media strategy, but we have plans to revamp our existing website, Indiatvnews.com, and launch more websites as well, although we have not decided about the content of the new websites. As a mobile VAS player, we will create and offer news based content on the mobile platform.”

He adds, “Initially, the content in the digital platform will be in English, but later on, it will be available in local languages as well.”

Mahendru has about 15 years of experience in the industry. He started his career in 1993 with the pharmaceutical company, Glaxo SmithKline. He was involved in content acquisition during his stint as deputy general manager at Bharti Telecom between 2005 and 2007. He has managed cable operators and subscription operations at STAR TV (1995-98). At Turner International (1999-2002), he was part of the team which launched the HBO channel in India. In 2007, he joined Group M Interaction as managing partner.

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