| MUMBAI:
In the second of our series of the top 10, we take a look at people who made a
difference to the world of Indian television in the year just gone by. The year
saw many changes, upheavals, successes, failures… yes, it was a year of adventure
for the world of television. The list we have drawn up is by no means comprehensive,
but it lists the people who we believe made an impact. The executives have not
been listed in order of importance, and sure there are many more who made a difference.
And we raise a toast to them. In
the meanwhile, read on about the Top 10 TV Executives who mattered in 2008.  |
| Rajesh
Kamat : The Young Turk |
1
Rajesh Kamat and Ashwini Yardi
Rajesh Kamat is a bit of a dark horse. This
young executive honed his skills under the crack team of Sameer Nair, Peter Mukerjea,
Raj Nayak and Tarun Katial at Star TV when it was at its peak. He later went on
to start up and helm Endemol in India. He was then picked up to head the Viacom18
general entertainment channel Colors in a market that was already looking overcrowded.
He chose
Ashwini Yardi - the Zee programmer who along with Vivek Bahl had taken Zee from
an also ran to a strong No 2 - to spearhead the Colors programming push. Both
thought out of the box and invested heavily in bellwether programmes such as Khatron
Kay Khiladi, Big Boss 2, Balika Vadhu and Jai Sri Krishna.
 | | Ashwini
Yardi: Her programming choices hooked viewers |
With
a good sized promotional war chest - both on the distribution front and on marketing
- they launched the channel. Naysayers were not convinced because Kamat's former
bosses had not managed to challenge the hegemony of Star Plus. However, Kamat's
strategy worked with TV viewers who simply lapped up the fare. Even the repeats
were generating huge viewership numbers. Soon
Colors was snapping at the heels of the leader. As the year ended, punters were
betting that by mid-2009, Colors would overtake Star Plus and become the leading
GEC in India. Yardi,
Kamat's programming head, could well have been in front of the camera in one of
the soaps that have become big hits with viewers. But the former Zee TV creative
professional prefers being behind the scenes. She earned a reputation as a crack
creative leader at Zee in 2006 when she along with Pradeep Guha, Vivek Bahl and
Punit Goenka brought the channel dangerously close to market leader Star Plus.
 |
| Uday
Shankar: Star Achiever |
2
Uday Shankar
You have got to hand it to the man. A former journalist
who led Star News was handpicked and polevaulted into the seat of Star India CEO.
Everyone was unimpressed with Rupert Murdoch's choice, but he had done it earlier
with Peter Chernin, who today is the Ozzie turned American's most trusted general.
As the
year ends, Murdoch must be pleased with his selection, going by Shankar's performance
so far. Shankar has worked on stabilising what was then a rocky ship (with professionals
leaving like lemmings following the departure of Sameer Nair and Peter Mukerjea)
, brought in newer professionals like Vivek Bahl, Anupama Mandloi, and Keertan
Adyanthaya, promoted Sameer Rao, focused on cutting costs, ended a relationship
- which to his mind was one-sided and too expensive - with Ekta Kapoor's Balaji
Telefilms, gave opportunities to newer and more hungry producers, and finally
kept an eye on revenues and distribution. He
moved distribution of the Star Channels into a new joint venture with DEN, launched
regional language channels, acquired majority stake in Asianet, and even steered
the company into film production with Fox. Of
course his gamble with Are you smarter than a fifth grader did not do as well
as expected, but Bidaai etc rocked the charts and helped Star Plus retain its
position as the Numero Uno. Yes, Colors is close on its heels and Zee TV cannot
be dismissed but Shankar is unlikely to prove to be a pushover. In fact, 2009
may well see Star Plus further cementing its position as a leader even in tough
economic conditions. | 
