MUMBAI: Zee Network's head of operations, (eastern region) and business head of Alpha Bangla, Aditya Ray, has quit the organisation after a stint spanning seven years.

Ray joined Sri Lanka-based Maharaja Television Corporation that runs a network of three terrestrial television channels in Sri Lanka, as CEO from 1 June 2004.

Ray, who spent five years as head of marketing services at Zee Network before moving to the eastern region in 2002, was also responsible for turning around Alpha Bangla's fortunes and making it a profit making venture in the first year that he took charge.

One of the few Bangla channels that is in the black, Alpha Bangla was also the first among the regional Alpha channels from the Zee stable to run up profits.

The IIT Mumbai and IIM-A alumnus will now be heading the television business of the 65-year old Maharaja Corporation, which also has a separate broadcast division that runs four radio stations in the country.

Ray's charge includes the Sinhalese Sirasa channel, the Tamil Shakti channel and the English language Channel 1 MTV. His priorities would include establishing Sirasa as the leader among existing Sinhalese channels and exploring different distribution modes and markets for the three channels.

During his tenure at Zee, Ray looked after its marketing as well as for the other channels in the bouquet. He was part of the core team instrumental in the relaunch exercise undertaken in 2001, before he headed east in January 2002 to look after Zee Network's operations there.