NEW DELHI: The new year has brought with it a wave of new appointments at various media companies, be it at Star, Sony or Zee. Yesterday it was Sony which announced the hiring of former Star TV programming whizkid Tarun Katial. Today, it is the turn of Star India Pvt Ltd to loop in a new hire at the senior management level: Ernst & Young's Nitin Atroley to oversee corporate affairs and communications.

Atroley is joining the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star India as an executive vice-president within the next ten days.

The 40-something Atroley would be joining Star India from the management and audit firm. According to information available with indiantelevision.com, the present team responsible for corporate communications and public relations would report to him.

Atroley's arrival in Star India would indicate that the company is envisioning a bigger role for itself in the country's corporate world, and could well include an impending initial public offer, which has been talked about for the last several years.

It is also a pointer to the fact that Star India wants its top management, including CEO Peter Mukerjea and his deputy Sameer Nair, to concentrate on the big plans that are in the offing, rather than keep dashing from Mumbai to Delhi and other cities to undertake political and corporate fire-fighting.

With the media scene hotting up, it seems unlikely that the new recruitment drive in television will ease off. Observers expect several other movements, corporate and editorial, in the next six months. This would include changes in Star News, which, under a new management team headed by ABP group's Aveek Sarkar, is bracing itself for fierce skirmishes on the news channel front led by the likes of Aaj Tak and NDTV India.