MUMBAI: It's now official. Monica Tata, who quit Star India after the elevation of senior V-P Kevin Vaz to ad sales head of the entire network, has joined Turner India.
Tata, who begins work as Turner India sales head from 5 April, fills the vacancy left after Soumitra Saha was promoted to V-P regional entertainment, advertising and sales, Turner Entertainment Networks Asia Pacific. Tata will be based out of Mumbai.

Tata will head Turner's advertising sales teams across India as well as work closely with other departments and media partners to maximise revenue opportunities across TV and interactive properties. She will also initiate and consolidate strategic accounts, develop and execute innovative strategies for driving sales revenues with advertisers on a national and international level. In addition to the above responsibilities, Tata will explore, analyse and identify business development opportunities for Turner advertising sales in India and South Asia, a company release says.

"Monica's valuable experience in handling different genres - be it entertainment, news, music, sports, her formidable reputation as an excellent seller of air time, and her in-depth understanding of the Indian advertising market made her an ideal choice to head the Turner India sales team," Saha was quoted in the release as saying.

"Joining Turner is a turning point in my career. I personally see a huge potential in growing the business for Turner in India, and will effectively leverage my experience and skill sets in my new role at Turner, " Tata was quoted as saying.

Tata will have Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network on Zee, CNN South Asia, CNN International, POGO as well as Zee Telefilms' English channels Zee MGM, Zee English and Trendz under her charge.

Prior to her Turner appointment, Tata was the senior vice president - advertising sales, Star India, where she was responsible for advertising revenue on Star Movies, Star World, Channel [V], National Geographic Channel and the History Channel.