Afaqs: Makarand Palekar has been appointed as the Senior VP sales and affiliate relations by TheOneAlliance (MSM Discovery), the distribution company of Multi Screen Media (MSM) and Discovery Communications.
Palekar was initially associated with ESPN-STAR sports as sales head. He was part of their start up team and has 13 years of experience since then. Talking about his decision to join TheOneAlliance he says, “The long association with the organisation has been fruitful. However, the decision to move out has been guided by the idea of taking on new challenges and the scope for individual growth.”
He further adds, “Working with TheOneAlliance implies that I am getting into a new genre altogether. Now I will deal in the GEC (general entertainment channel) genre. At ESPN-STAR Sports, I was only handling three channels but now I will handle 21 channels as a part of a bouquet.”
As one of the key members, Palekar will be responsible for organization’s revenue from analog and DTH platforms. He will also take care of channel placements and digitization.
Rajesh Kaul, president, MSM Discovery says, “Palekar brings with him a rich experience of distribution and is a man behind many success stories in the past. He has excellent team management skills and the right combination of experience and expertise to guide the team to achieve greater heights.”