Suresh Iyer, CEO, Raj TV calls it quits

Apart from Iyer, Ujjal Bhattacharjee, sales and marketing head, western region, has also put in his papers

After a one-year stint as the chief executive officer at Raj TV, Suresh Iyer has decided to move on and start his own media venture. At the moment, it is not certain who will be taking over his position.

Confirming the news to afaqs!, Iyer says, "I've always been an entrepreneur -- and once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. For close to a decade, I was into business, and now, I think it's time for me to start something of my own again." He was the founder of New Age Entertainment, an airtime-selling organisation, which he later sold to In House Productions.

Iyer has zeroed in on a few verticals and is exploring business opportunities there. Among these are content generation, the internet space and advertising in multiplexes. "There is no dedicated internet space that caters to trade information related to South Indian films. Though so many movies release in the South, there is no media company keeping a tab on it. We want to try that out," he explains.

Talking about the other verticals that he is exploring, Iyer adds, "Also, there is no organised source of information that focuses on the programming side of television in the South. I am, therefore, trying something in this regard as well."

The third thing that he is planning to try his hand at is advertising in multiplexes. Since multiplexes are fast picking up in the region, he wants to create a platform that will help create transparency in multiplex advertising.

Apart from these, he has another plan up his sleeve, which includes representing the marketing department of a channel. He is in talks with a few broadcasters down South for this.

Prior to joining Raj TV in mid-2008, Iyer was with Pyramid Saimira as group president, marketing.

Another person to leave Raj TV is Ujjal Bhattacharjee, head, sales and marketing, western region. Talking about his exit from the company, he says, "I am going to start a venture of my own."

On whether he plans to join Iyer, Bhattacharjee says that, at the moment, it is not confirmed.

Bhattacharjee joined Raj TV in May 2008, along with Iyer. At Raj TV, he was actively involved in acquiring programmes for the channel, and later, in reprogramming the channel. "There were only soaps on the GECs back then, and post IPL, we realised that people were not coming back to the channel. That was when we decided to change the programming strategy of our channel."

Armed with more than 12 years of experience, Bhattacharjee was earlier associated with Pyramid Saimira as deputy general manager, marketing.