Movies Now gets Mandar Natekar to head national ad sales

Natekar will report to Ajay Trigunayat, channel head, Movies Now and will be responsible for establishing the channel as a preferred platform for advertisers across the country.

Times Television Network has appointed Mandar Natekar as head, national sales of its latest venture, Movies Now. Natekar will report to Ajay Trigunayat, channel head, Movies Now and will be responsible for driving the new brand to the market in a bid to establish the channel as a preferred platform for advertisers across the country.

Earlier, Natekar was revenue head and chief marketing officer, Big Adda, the new media venture of Reliance Big Entertainment. He was in charge of setting up and driving the entire team and operations and also devising revenue templates for social networking monetisation.

Speaking to afaqs!, Sunil Lulla , managing director and chief executive officer, Times Television Network, says, "Movies Now presents an upscale profile and as national ad sales head, Mandar will help build revenue for the channel while acting as a custodian of customer relationship."

Trigunayat states in an official communiqué, "We are happy to have Mandar on board; he brings along a decade of TV and digital space experience - an ideal mix to develop a robust strategy and revenue pipeline for Movies Now."

Earlier, Natekar was with Turner International for more than five years, working as ad sales head, West and North, HBO. He started his career with Bennett Coleman & Company Limited (Response), subsequently moving to SET Max, where he was a part of the start up ad sales team for the channel.

Movies Now will soon add to Times Television Network's existing portfolio that comprises Times Now, ET Now and Bollywood entertainment channel, Zoom.

Targeting the urban Indian audience, Movies Now will be a pay channel that will be launched in the high definition (HD) format. The channel will be distributed by Times Television Network.