ALT Digital appoints Ekalavya Bhattacharya as chief strategy officer

Bhattacharya joins ALT from Viacom18 Media where he headed the digital arm of MTV India.

ALT Digital Media Entertainment (ALT Digital), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms, has announced the appointment of Ekalavya Bhattacharya as chief strategy officer. An official statement says that Bhattacharya will work closely with the leadership team to define the corporate strategy for ensuring wider acceptability and success of ALT's digital initiatives.

Bhattacharya joins ALT Digital from Viacom18 Media where he was associate vice-president and head - digital, MTV India. Responsible for expanding the digital footprint of MTV India, his stint at Viacom 18 saw him develop and execute strategies related to product, content, mobile, technology and marketing.

The statement adds that he brings with him more than a decade of experience in the digital space, and has previously worked with other digital firms like Zapak.com, Contests2Win.com, WAT Consult and PaGaLGuY.com.

Commenting on his appointment, Sameer Nair, group chief executive officer, Balaji Telefilms, says, "Bhattacharya comes with very strong pedigree, having done some amazing work at MTV in building their digital business. We believe his disruptive attitude and business smarts are a wonderful addition to the eclectic diversity in the fast growing ALT Digital Team."

Nachiket Pantvaidya, chief executive officer, ALT Digital Media Entertainment, says, "We welcome Bhattacharya to ALT. His experience and diverse skill sets will help us formulate and drive our strategy across our business operations. He will enrich the already strong team at ALT as we prepare to launch our service in India and globally."

On his appointment, Bhattacharya says, "Recent digital consumption patterns have made it necessary to introduce changes in the way content is created and offered to consumers and screenagers. As India's leading production studio, Balaji Telefilms is in a unique position to utilise its creative capabilities for a digitally-savvy audience. I am glad to be a part of ALT that stands for the alternate -- alternate content and alternate screens."