Balaji Telefilms appoints Nachiket Pantvaidya as CEO of ALT Digital Media

Media Brief

Mumbai, December 01, 2015

Balaji Telefilms Ltd, a leading television and film production company, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Nachiket Pantvaidya as chief executive officer of its wholly owned subsidiary ALT Digital Media Entertainment Ltd.

ALT Digital was announced earlier this year as part of the Group’s strategic intent to extend Balaji’s creative expertise to the digital domain by developing on-demand, original, edgy and contemporary content for digital audiences globally.

At ALT Digital, Nachiket Pantvaidya will have profit and loss responsibility of the company’s operations spanning content, marketing, distribution and revenues as the company gears up to launch its services in 2016, according to a statement.

In his earlier assignment, Pantvaidya was business head of Sony Entertainment Television. Prior to that he was business head of Star Plus and held several roles in the Star TV network, including head of Star Pravah and managing director of Fox Television Studios. An IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, he has also held key management roles in BBC and Disney.

Commenting on his appointment, Ekta Kapoor, joint managing director, Balaji Telefilms, said, “Nachiket brings along not only a rich expanse of industry experience but also new energy and dynamic execution skills to lead our new venture and build a strong and valuable B2C brand."

Sameer Nair, group chief executive officer, Balaji Telefilms, added, “Nachiket shares our passion for entertainment, has extensive operational experience and brings with him an excellent understanding of the entertainment ecosystem as well as the transformation it is rapidly undergoing.”

Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO, ALT Digital Media, said, “The increase in the number of devices capable of supporting digital media along with increasing Internet access speed has provided consumers with an option to access the media content of choice - be it information, entertainment or social activity anytime, and anywhere.”

“Against this backdrop, the opportunity to leverage Balaji Telefilms’ creative sensibilities as India’s leading production studio, to a new digital arena is most exciting,” he added.

Pantvaidya further said, “We will move from a conventional ‘one size fits all’ approach to a more evolved and targeted approach to marketing and creating unique and differentiated content.”