NEO SPORTS appoints Shashi Kalathil as CEO; STAR India roped in as distribution partner

Nimbus Sports Broadcast has appointed STAR India to exclusively distribute its forthcoming bouquet of NEO sports channels.

The first of its channels, the cricket-centric NEO SPORTS, is set to be launched in the last quarter of 2006. This will be followed by NEO SPORTS Plus, a sports entertainment channel which, too, is expected to be launched by the end of the year. STAR India has exclusive distribution rights for these two channels till 2010 and will also distribute any future sports channels from the NEO SPORTS stable.

After discussions with several parties, Nimbus zeroed in on STAR India as its distribution partner based on the broadcaster’s market knowledge, quality of management team, distribution reach and position in India. 

Harish Thawani, chairman, Nimbus, says, “We are satisfied by STAR India’s strategy for NEO SPORTS’ comprehensive distribution needs. In the end, it was the strong track record of executing on its strategic plans that persuaded us to appoint STAR.”

With nearly 200 days of cricket lined up every year on NEO SPORTS (of which over 100 days will involve live India cricket, including all BCCI events and between three-four international series every year), NEO SPORTS is expected to reach a majority of the cable and satellite homes, with the back-up of STAR India’s distribution.

Sameer Nair, CEO, STAR Entertainment, India, says, “The robust cricket assets to be showcased on NEO SPORTS will ensure that our viewers can catch quality broadcasts of their favourite sporting events. NEO’s stable of sports channels will complement our existing bouquets, offering more breadth and depth to viewers.”

In addition, Tata Group’s Shashi Kalathil has been roped in as the CEO of NEO SPORTS. He was earlier with the Tata Group, where he was leading the group’s broadband initiative as president, broadband and retail business of VSNL. He will move into his new role by October 2006.

Commenting on his appointment, Harish Thawani, chairman, Nimbus, says, “I have known Shashi over the years as a client, while he was with Pepsi, and apart from his pedigree as a cutting-edge professional, he brings with him a level of integrity and values.”

Kalathil comments on his move, “My mandate here will be to lead a passionate management team that has sports expertise, to greater consumer focus and to deliver outstanding value to the advertisers and viewers of NEO SPORTS through an innovative use of technology.”

Nimbus expects to make more appointments in its sports broadcasting business in the next few days.

Having worked with Pepsi as executive director, marketing, Kalathil is well-versed with complex distribution networks and the advertiser’s perspective on sports, particularly cricket. Kalathil’s hands-on experience at VSNL and his previous stint in the mobile telecom market is expected to provide invaluable technological impetus to NEO SPORTS.

Kalathil is an alumnus of IIM, Bangalore, Delhi College of Engineering and Modern School, New Delhi. He started his career at HLL, where he worked for 12 years in marketing research, sales and marketing across the detergents and personal products profit centres. In 1995, Kalathil helped set up one of India’s first cellular networks, RPG Cellular, at Chennai as head of marketing, sales and customer services. In 1998, Kalathil joined PepsiCo India, where he moved up the ranks from brand head, Pepsi, to director, South India Operations and finally became the marketing director. Since October 2004, Kalathil had been with the Tatas.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!