MUMBAI: Star India has appointed former Hindustan Media Ventures Limited (HMVL) CEO Amit Chopra to steer the group?s sports strategy which includes the BCCI media rights.

The new appointment comes in the wake of Star?s increasing involvement in taking care of parent News Corp?s sports business in India. Earlier this year, Star had acquired the BCCI media rights till 2018 for Rs 38.51 billion. This was followed by News Corp consolidating its hold over sports broadcasting in Asia by acquiring for $335 million Disney?s 50 per cent stake in the equal joint venture company, ESPN Star Sports.

ESS is expected to come under Fox International Channels (FIC) for the rest of Asia while the India part will fall under Star India.

Chopra, whose designation is not yet revealed, will report to Star India COO Sanjay Gupta.

Chopra has rich experience in media and FMCG domains in a career spanning 20 years. As CEO of Hindustan Media Venture, he was credited with creating a successful language publishing business for the group.

An Engineer from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Chopra has spent 12 years in FMCG in Hindustan Unilever in a variety of marketing and sales assignments.

NEW DELHI: Zee Americas, the South Asian network in the United States, has elevated Sameer Targe to the position of general manager of the company‘s South Asian business unit with immediate effect.

In his new role, Targe will be in charge of marketing, ad sales, programming and distribution teams. He will spearhead strategic development and execution of all sales, distribution, digital, programming and marketing initiatives for the company.

Based in New York, he will report to Asia TV USA CEO Suresh Bala Iyer.

"Sameer brings years of sales and marketing experience to his new role."says Iyer. "His keen strategic thinking along with his knowledge of the both the South Asian and Mainstream in the Americas are sure to benefit the company greatly."

Targe has over 11 years of experience in sales and marketing. He worked with Zee Entertainment Enterprises India Ltd. in India from 2000 to 2003, before moving to Canada to pursue an MBA. He returned to join the ad sales team in the USA operations of Zeel in 2006. He has led the ad sales team for the South Asian business unit since 2008.

"I am excited and thankful to the management of Zee for recognising my talent and efforts. This new role brings me a new opportunity to reinvent myself in broader functions of the media industry. I hope that I will be able to deliver as per the expectation of the management."

Asia TV USA, headquartered in New York, is a distributor of television, entertainment and media content in the United States. Among its portfolio of media and entertainment clientele are the distribution of nine South Asian entertainment channels in the United States including Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Ten Cricket, Alpha ETC Punjabi, Zee Business, Zee Smile, Zee Kannada, Zee Marathi and Zing.