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2009. A year when most of the television industry gasped as the Indian
economy slowed down and advertising and distribution revenues dried up even as
costs went up. Executives burnt the midnight oil grappling with the downturn.
Most of them deserve a salute for coping with the tough times. But there were
some who came out triumphant and did wonders for the companies they lead. Indiantelevision.com
takes a look at those who made the cut in our 2009's Top 10 Executives listing.
Our list
is by no means comprehensive, but these gents and ladies clearly stood above the
rest. The executives have not been listed in order of importance or achievement,
and sure there are many more who made a difference. We raise a toast to them.
In the
meanwhile take a dekko at our Top 10 Executives of 2009.
Rajesh
Kamat & Ashvini Yardi
 Rajesh
Kamat did what was considered nigh impossible in 2009. Under his leadership, Colors,
one of the late entrants in the general entertainment television sweepstakes,
toppled both the leader Star Plus and the second placed Zee TV from their perches.
He did not stop at that. With the help of clever engaging and disruptive programming
from his programming head Ashvini Yardi, he maintained that top slot for the rest
of the year. And
Kamat achieved that in just a matter of 13 months - a feat which could well enter
the Guinness Book of World Records. For
long, rivals Sony and Zee had taken a shot at the top spot, but Star Plus appeared
to be unshakeable. Kamat and his band of merry programmers however made it look
fairly easy with a mix of differentiated, disruptive programming and distribution
(Kamat's 3 Ds) on the back of savvy marketing. As the year was ending, he had
actually got his company close to profitability with revenues of close to Rs 6.5
billion. Kamat's
success has to be juxtaposed against what happened to other players who dared
to challenge the leader: new entrants 9X (launched by former Star CEO Peter Mukerjea)
and Real took a beating and almost wound up. The other player NDTV Imagine ended
up at the No 5 spot, and finally found a new owner in Turner. During
his days at Star Kamat had seen the channel rise from obscurity to leader. And
he had gained amazing consumer insights during his earlier stint at Coke. He brought
all of that bear in his uphill battle against the leaders. He gambled with a young
enthusiastic team and the gamble paid off. Today,
he is the most sought after TV executive in the country. And he was rewarded with
additionally responsibility just as the year ended: he was given additional charge
of strategy, legal distribution and finance of the Viacom 18 group bringing the
channels MTV and Nickelodeon under his charge. 2009
also saw him take an extremely calculated risk. Nine months from launch, he took
the channel pay putting it as part of the One Alliance bouquet, distributed by
MSM Discovery. The timing would not have been better as IPL gave the channel a
good mileage. Later he got Amitabh Bachchan to don the hat of Pop Philosopher
for Bigg Boss and now Big B is taking the channel to US and UK as brand ambassador.
Additionally, he got his son Abishekh to host Bingo, a popular international format.
At the time of writing, Bingo has done it once again for Kamat: the show has generated
higher ratings than other game shows.
 A
large part of that credit goes to Yardi who has been the creative driving force
behind Colors. A woman with a vision to create a channel so unique and distinguished
from anything ever viewed by India, she has always given priority to innovation
and creativity. Her focus on fresher concepts and disruptive programming is what
elevated Colors to its leadership position so quickly.
From
the word go, Yardi stressed that the shows on her channels have to have "meaningful
entertainment". The characters are not in black or white but have different
shades. Yardi strongly believes that Colors offers 'something for everyone' and
'everything for some'. Known
for incorporating audience insights in her search for the perfect television shows,
be it fiction, reality, game show or any other format, Ashvini has been responsible
for making entertainment bigger than ever and effectively changed the way Indians
viewed television. 2009
saw shows with hard hitting messages such as Na Aana Is Des Laado and Uttaran
climbing to the top positions on the charts while the Colors flagship show, Balika
Vadhu, continued to reign over peoples' hearts and minds. And as far as reality
shows go, 2009 was the year for the biggest ever changes in the reality television
scene. With Fear Factor getting a lot more exciting and the Big B Amitabh Bachchan
himself hosting the third season of Bigg Boss, reality in India touched new heights
in 2009. Genius
clearly does not go unnoticed, and in Ashvini's case, her talent has been recognized
from time to time by peers and various industry institutions. She has been the
recipient of many an honour, amongst them being the Media Personality of the Year
title at India Today Woman's Summit, apart from being hailed as one of the top
50 powerful people of 2009 in India by Business Week. Perhaps
defining Ashvini in one word may not be easy, but trendsetter comes rather close.
And now, she is at it again, conquering newer peaks, bringing in fresher ideas
and ready to set some new trends in 2010. | 
