Tushar Shah : Assistant Vice- President

Name: Tushar Shah

Designation: Assistant Vice- President - Marketing, PR & Commercial - MAX

Sun Sign: Virgo, 16 September 1969

Educational Experience
Bachelor in Commerce and Post Graduate in Marketing Management (PGDMM).

Professional Experience
Spent the first six years in Sales and then the next seven years in Marketing. Combination of Media Industry (TOI and Sony) and Telecom Industry (Telstra, Agrani and Hutchison).

Job Profile
Currently heading Marketing, PR & Commercial at MAX (part of Sony Entertainment Television), as Assistant Vice- President.

Television as career choice
Last couple of years has seen Indian cable & satellite industry coming off age. With 100 odd channels available for viewers to choose from, viewership has got fragmented, leading to a paradigm shift in the way television business operates.

This time of accelerated change has thrown a huge challenge, challenge to understand the ever-evolving consumer preferences and design content and communication accordingly. Also with increased fragmentation, an increasing need is being felt to build and nurture strong brands.

Having spent more than 12 years as a sales and marketing professional in different industries, I found the challenges offered by television industry at this point in time very exciting, not just in terms of learning and discovering a whole new world, but also to try out new ideas and redefine the way a television channel is marketed.

Further, Sony offered an opportunity to work with a worldwide leader in entertainment. Movies and cricket being my twin passion, Max provided the perfect platform for me to display my marketing skills. Sony's acquisition of ICC World Cup rights till 2007 just sealed the deal for me.

Having worked on "Champions Trophy" & "World Cup", I can easily say that this by far is the most satisfying experience of my professional career.

Current Television scenario
One word that defines television industry today is "Change." With CAS getting implemented in the near future, creating consumer pull has emerged as most critical for the survival and growth of the business. Hence, managing content and communication will be the key focus area of this business.

With television penetration as well as satellite penetration still on a growth phase, we are going to see increased fragmentation in taste and preferences of the viewers leading to a plethora of unique offering channels mushrooming and doing well.

Today, you cannot expect different results by doing the same thing again and again. Unlearning old paradigms and principles has become as critical as learning new ones. Business success will depend upon the ability to anticipate the change and be prepared to face tomorrow with a fresh approach and arsenal. As they rightly say in this business "tomorrow is actually a different day."

Right and wrong about current television scenario
It's a little bit chaotic out there, but then there lie the challenges and the opportunities. There is a need for appreciating systems and structure; too much of fluidity is not good for the business. Training is another area that has long been neglected; as a result there are not many world-class media managers around. I want to see the television industry attracting the best among the best business schools in India and abroad.

On the positive side, things have started to change; in the last couple of years the industry has started getting more organised, greater investments are being made in systems and structures, it has also started attracting brighter talent. And more importantly it is evolving and evolving at a very fast speed. The industry still is in its embryonic phase and from here on things can only change for the better.

Five years from now
Five years is a lifetime. Very difficult to see where I'll be and what I'll be doing. Definitely the world will change within these five years and I'll be grappling with these changes. But I guess I'll be operating on a larger canvas, with a bigger set of responsibilities, managing a bigger and brighter resource pool and influencing business in a much more pronounced way.

Hobbies
Movies, music, surfing and travelling.

Idea of enjoyment
My idea of enjoyment is going on a holiday to the hills with family and close friends.