Planetcast Media Services appoints Sanjay Duda as its new CEO

Planetcast Media Services, a leading broadcast technology and media services provider in India and Southeast Asia, announced that Sanjay Duda has been appointed as its Chief Executive Officer. Sanjay Duda will be responsible for spearheading the growth of the company, especially building out its cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) offering and its ongoing international expansion. Duda brings over 21 years of experience at Planetcast, where he was most recently its Chief Operating Officer for nearly five years – playing an instrumental role in driving global expansion and generating new lines of business around cloud playout, post-production, over-the-top streaming, and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST).

“Sanjay has emerged as a leader who understands where the market is going and how to gear the business for the future,” says Mahendra Nath Vyas, Executive Director and a founder of Planetcast Media Services. “He brings deep experience dealing with the largest global media and entertainment brands and knows what they need to meet their specific challenges, whether we are talking about Amazon, Indian Premier League, Sony, Star TV, Viacom, or a host of others.”

Planetcast Founding Director Lalit Jain adds: “Sanjay recognises the capabilities that our clients require and the gaps they have as they meet changing consumer demands. He personifies the customer-centric approach that Planetcast has always taken to better help global media brands meet the unique challenges they face in a fast-evolving media landscape.”

Duda takes the leadership reigns from the founder directors, Vyas and Jain, who will continue to remain on the company’s board. Sanjay will build on Planetcast’s 26-year track record of market-leading service and innovation in India and Southeast Asia through its growing suite of next-generation cloud and SaaS media services. Looking beyond Planetcast’s origins in India – where it became the market leader in one of the toughest media markets in the world – Duda believes the company can thrive as it continues to expand into other parts of Asia Pacific and international markets beyond.

“Planetcast’s customers demand more agility and scalability than ever as they seek to keep pace with rapid global market growth and changing conditions, and we are delivering that,” says Duda, who played a leading role in the launch of new initiative Planetcast International last April when the company first set its sights on global expansion, launching its cloud-first offering across the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.

He adds: “Media and entertainment is in the midst of a period of global transformation and Planetcast has proven expertise throughout the entire media value chain, already touching over a billion lives in India and Southeast Asia. We are perfectly positioned to empower companies worldwide to meet changing consumer behaviours and preferences with our leading-edge cloud services and technologies.”

Owners and providers of TV and video programming worldwide are seeking new ways to meet surging consumer demand for more content across a growing range of platforms. Owned by private equity fund AION Capital Partners, an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, Planetcast enables media organisations to meet this soaring demand by efficiently transitioning to cloud-first workflows – allowing media companies to increase distribution, capacity, and monetisation.

Utsav Baijal, Chairman of the Planetcast Board and Head of Private Equity for India at Apollo notes: “Sanjay’s appointment as CEO marks a very important step in the transformation of Planetcast as it evolves to meet the needs of the new digital economy. Planetcast, under the guidance of Mr Vyas and Mr Jain, is the market leader in media services and is well-positioned going forward. Sanjay has already demonstrated over his years at Planetcast Media Services that he has the foresight and vision to drive the business forward and we are excited to have him as CEO.” BCS Bureau