Manoj Padmanabhan is sales head, Ten Sports

Manoj Padmanabhan has been promoted as the national sales head, Ten Sports. Padmanabhan steps into Gargi Kaul’s shoes, who has decided to move on after a six year stint at the organisation.

Padmanabhan has been with Ten Sports for four years in the sales function. Earlier, he was heading the sales function for the western region. Commenting on his promotion, Rukin Kizilbash, general manager, Taj TV India, says, “Padmanabhan has the ability to activate new clients and get them onto sports. I have no doubt that we will maximise the revenues on the two upcoming tours – India's tour of West Indies and the triangular series in Zimbabwe.”

“We have plenty of non-stop action over the next few years and we hope to raise our revenues to the next level with five out of 10 cricket boards under our belt,” says an excited Padmanabhan.

Before Ten Sports, Padmanabhan worked with the Times Group’s Zoom as account manager for a year. He was part of the launch team for the group’s first television channel. Before that, he worked with The Times of India for four years.

Padmanabhan says that while India is still a cricket market, the scenario has changed in the last two years. While 80 per cent of the channel’s revenue comes from Indian cricket, other properties such as the WWE, the UEFA Champions League and US Open Tennis are also doing well.

Advertisers are now willing to put in their money into sports such as soccer, golf and non-Indian cricket. “There definitely has been a perception change, although the education process is still on,” he says.

Ten Sports' lineup of cricket over the next six months includes the Pakistan/ Australia ODI (One Day International) series, the two India tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe, Pakistan and New Zealand's tours of Sri Lanka, and England's tour of South Africa.