Viveat Susan Pinto
Media

Times TV hires Jagjit Siyan as chief technical advisor

Though a group resource, Siyan will be chiefly involved in setting up the infrastructure of the business channel

By virtue of being one of the premier media players in the country, every move made by Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (BCCL) is keenly observed and analysed.

Currently the hot of topic of discussion concerning the group is its broadcasting venture Times Television, and news is that the division has hired Jagjit Siyan as its chief technical advisor.

A renowned name in the broadcasting business in India, Siyan will play a leading role in putting the entire back-end together, which involves the technology and engineering systems of the TV channels.

The business news channel, however, will take up much of his time - given that news is the most technologically challenging of the lot. According to Partho Dasgupta, vice-president and business head, business channel, plans are to have a fully digital technology environment as far as the business news channel goes.

In addition to Siyan, Kamal Dixit will join as head of news systems in the month of September, he informs. Dixit moves from Sahara Samay Rashtriya where he was operations head.

With this appointment, the core team of the business channel is more or less in place with Arnab Goswami in charge of content and programming, Siyan and Dixit looking at the technical aspects, and Dasgupta of course, as the business head.

Recruitment for other positions at the business channel has begun in earnest, with the channel looking at an overall team strength of 350 people across content, marketing, technical support and production.

Alongside, it has also appointed Leo Burnett as its advertising agency after a three-way pitch involving Burnett, Lowe and JWT. The appointment was made on August 24, and the agency's task on hand is to map the market and provide inputs on channel positioning.

This will then lead in to creative work, with the overall communication package likely to break out a month or two before launch, says Dasgupta.

"We are yet to finalise the direction of the channel, and one of the reasons for appointing Leo Burnett was due to its clear strategic thinking and innovative positioning insights during the pitch," he adds. © 2004 agencyfaqs!

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