MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEE) has roped in Ashok Namboodiri as chief business officer for International Business.
With Namboodiri’s appointment, which came into effect from Wednesday, January 20, ZEE aims at maintaining a strategic focus on the international markets in order to realise strong opportunities for growth.
In his last stint, Namboodiri was executive vice president and Business head – Regional Sports Networks. The media executive, along with then Star Sports CEO Gautam Thakar, Rajiv Mathrani, who was EVP & head Marketing, Star Sports, and Rupali Fernandes, EVP – Emerging Sports, Advertising Sales, Product and Revenue Strategy, all tendered their resignations in October 2020, soon after Uday Shankar decided to step down as president, The Walt Disney Company APAC and chairman, Star & Disney India.
At Star, aside from leading the regional sports business, Namboodiri, who joined the network in April 2016, also lead the general entertainment business in the Kannada market, and spearheaded the launch of five sports channels.
With Namboodiri’s rich experience and expertise, ZEE intends to optimally capitalize on these opportunities by further strengthening its presence in the international markets. The company also aims at streamlining the international business with an integrated team, in order to enable each cluster to craft a local-market aligned approach.
Namboodiri will be responsible for leading the teams across the international markets, leveraging the company’s deep level of understanding from each market to drive strategic growth.
Along with Star India, Namboodiri has also worked with brands like Britannia, Tata Consumer, Coca Cola and Hindustan Unilever.
