ESPN STAR Sports appoints Aloke Malik as MD, South Asia

As managing director, South Asia, Malik will oversee the Indian operations, which include distribution, sales and marketing of the company's multi-media brands.

Sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) has appointed Aloke Malik as managing director, South Asia, which includes its India operations, ESPN Software India (ESI), apart from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and the Maldives. Earlier, Malik was chief operating officer, East, Idea Cellular.

In his new role, Malik will head the management team and look after the distribution, sales and marketing of the company's multi-media brands including ESPN STAR Sports, STAR Cricket, espnstar.com, mobile ESPN and Event Management Group.

Manu Sawhney, managing director, ESPN STAR Sports Asia, states that over the years, ESPN STAR Sports has played a pivotal role in growing the pay TV industry in India and today, on the back of comprehensive and compelling content line up and engaging sports programming across platforms, it is well placed to further strengthen its position in the sub-continent.

Sawhney adds, "Sports broadcasting has come of age in India and with the rapid growth of technology, there are many new opportunities for growth to be explored and exploited today. Aloke's extensive experience across industries and his astute market knowledge will help ESPN STAR Sports further reinforce the strong relationship it shares with sports fans across the sub-continent and broaden its business in the market."

Malik will be based in ESI's Gurgaon headquarters and will report to Sawhney.

Malik says, "The media industry in India today is at the most important juncture and ESPN STAR Sports, as a pioneer in sports broadcasting, has been the major force in the industry's growth in the country. I am very proud to be a part of this exciting organisation, which has the most iconic media brands in India today in ESPN STAR Sports and STAR Cricket and I look forward to further build on ESI's leadership position."

An IIM Kolkata alumnus, Malik has more than 23 years of experience in general management, marketing, sales and distribution across a wide range of industries and consumer groups and has worked in diverse international markets such as Russia and Bangladesh. Some of his earlier stints include local and multi-national companies such as ITC, PepsiCo, Reliance Retail, Madura Garments and Idea Cellular.