MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment has instituted some repositioning in its executive hierarchy both at the national and international level.
Rajan Singh has been promoted to executive V-P for international business, Sony Entertainment Television Asia (SET Asia), while Mukesh Bhavnani has been appointed SET India's general legal counsel.
Singh now heads all SET Asia's (the international feed for SET) operations outside the Indian subcontinent and will continue to report directly to SET CEO Kunal Dasgupta. According to a company release, Singh will oversee sales, marketing and distribution efforts in over 100 countries around the world. Singh has already commenced work towards launching the channel in Canada and the Gulf next month. SET Asia's international business is expected to make a $10 million profit in the next financial year, the release says.
Although Singh will continue to be based in London, with major channel operations in North America, Africa and the Middle East, he will also have several offices overseas. As a result of his promotion, Singh is now the highest-ranking executive in the South Asian pay-TV sector outside of the Indian subcontinent
Prior to his promotion Singh was senior V-P for international business responsible for SET Asia's European, North American and African operations. Singh joined SET Asia as general manager of UK and European Operations in 1999 and was the driving force behind the channel's great success in that territory - more than doubling the number of subscribers in little over a year.
A native of Leicester, England, Singh held a variety of senior positions within the Asian media before joining SET Asia. Most recently he was employed by Digital Media Services on a consultancy basis to establish Asian television and radio stations in East Africa.
Before this he was CEO of Zee Television in the UK and Europe. In this capacity he was responsible for the development of Zee's business operations in the European region. Singh was also eventually to oversee the establishment of the channel's African operations.
Bhavnani, meanwhile, will be responsible for providing legal expertise and counsel to all strategic business decisions and initiatives undertaken by SET India. Bhavnani, a legal professional and a qualified company secretary has over 24 years of experience in laws of India and several other jurisdictions. He will be a core member of the management team at Sony and will deal with legal and related matters for all of Sony's businesses.
Bhanvnani's last assignment was with Max New York Life Insurance as director (regulatory affairs and compliance) and before that with Coca Cola India Inc as senior legal counsel. Earlier, he worked with Jumbo Electronics in Dubai as GM legal, Godrej Soaps also as GM (Legal and Purchase). Bhavnani has also worked with Richardson Hindustan (now Procter and Gamble India) and E-Merck India.
