Nitin Vaidya to head Hindi channels at STAR India

As part of his new mandate, Vaidya will head Star Plus, STAR One, STAR Gold and STAR Utsav.

STAR India has roped in Nitin Vaidya as business head. Prior to this, Vaidya was chief operating officer (COO), national channels at Zee Entertainment and business head for Zee TV.

As part of his new mandate, Vaidya will head the Hindi channels for the network, which include Star Plus, STAR One, STAR Gold and STAR Utsav.

The announcement was made in an internal corporate mail.

Vaidya will report to Sanjay Gupta, COO, STAR India.

Vaidya was with Zee for 10 years. In 2008, as part of the restructuring at Zee, Vaidya, director of the regional channels of Zee Group, was elevated to the position of COO. He also took charge of Zee's national channels, including Zee TV, Smile, Next, Zee Cinema, Jagran, Zee Muzic and Cafe Trendz.

During his tenure with Zee, Vaidya spearheaded the company's foray into the regional space and later all national channels. It was during his tenure that Zee Group launched Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla and Zee Talkies as an exclusive cinema channel. He also set up the film production and distribution business in Marathi.

With around 23 years of experience, Vaidya started his career in media as a reporter with the Sakal group. He grew to become principal correspondent, special correspondent, chief of bureau, brand manager and chief executive at the state and national levels.