Former Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande bids adieu to ZEEL

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Former Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande bids adieu to ZEEL

Former Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande has bid adieu to ZEEL to pursue new opportunities. He declined to mention about his future plan and destination. atul-pandePande had joined ZEEL in April 2009 as the CEO of its sport business. Under his watch, the sports broadcast business grew from a single channel operation to a five-channel network. Ten also consolidated its position on cricket over his tenure and is now a credible player in the Indian market. Pande was recently replaced by Rajesh Sethi as the CEO of Ten Sports. Speaking on his time with the company, Pande said, “My four and half years with Ten were personally exhilarating for me. I chased my major passion in life – sports, and I believe, we were able to achieve most of the objectives set by the investors for this business.” Speaking on the challenges of the business, Pande mused, “Financials continue to be a major challenge in the business, for all the players. Any sports broadcasting business today is hurting because of the dynamics around cricket, and the dollar hasn’t helped either.” He continued, “Our regulatory environment continues to be a challenge in terms of pricing, and digitisation- while demonstrating promise – has not delivered for the sports business so far. This business will become a two horse race, and the major players will continue to build market share to dominate the subscription real estate in the country.”