Discovery India programming head Arun Thapar moves on

Discovery India programming head Arun Thapar moves on

 Arun Thapar

MUMBAI: After a five year long journey with Discovery Networks Asia Pacific India as vice president – programming, Arun Thapar has reportedly moved on from his role to pursue further challenging career opportunities.

According to sources, Thapar’s last day at the network was 10 August.

No confirmation was available about his departure from either Thapar or the Discovery management, despite several attempts to reach out to them.

Thapar, led a cross functional team for programming strategy and planning, content sourcing including acquisitions, scheduling, commissioning and executive production of all local India productions.

He also played a role in contributing towards ad sales solutions, language customization and new channel launches with a view to grow the Discovery portfolio and strengthening its leadership in nonfiction entertainment.

During his journey, he oversaw various programming and on air promotion (OAP) needs for all 11 channels of the Discovery Networks in South Asia - Discovery Channel, Discovery Channel Tamil, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Kids, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Investigation Discovery, TLC HD World, Animal Planet HD World and Discovery HD World.

In his past role, Thapar was program presenter and VP programming at NDTV Lifestyle.

Indiantelevision.com had recently reported that Karan Bajaj was joining Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific as senior vice president & general manager of South Asia with effect from 17 October 2016. He will be based in Mumbai and will report to Discovery APAC president and managing director Arthur Bastings.