NEW DELHI: Essel Group-promoted Siti Cable has filled up its chief executive position after a year to keep pace with its digital cable TV expansion plans. Kancharan Upendra Rao (K U Rao) has moved from Diligent Media Corporation Limited (DCML) where he was chief executive officer to take charge of the cable company.
After the exit of Sudhir Agarwal, Siti Cable functioned with Anil Malhotra as chief operating officer. The company went on a restructuring exercise and Malhotra was assisted by Sanjay Goyal as chief financial officer and Sanjay Jindal as chief technology officer.
As Siti Cable CEO, Rao will have his hands full with the second phase of digitisation across 38 cities set for a deadline of 31 March 2013. New to the cable TV industry, he will bring fresh thinking to a sector that is moving from analogue to digital systems. Siti Cable has seeded 1.3 million set-top boxes (STBs) in the first phase.
Rao served as the CEO of Diligent Media, the company that runs English daily DNA, for more than six years where he was tasked with the challenge of launching the newspaper in the tough Mumbai market and later taking it to other markets. DMCL started as a joint venture between Zee and Dainik Bhaskar group.
A commerce graduate and MBA from Andhra University, Rao has more than 25 years of experience in the management field. Prior to DMCL, Rao was associated with Royal Dutch / Shell in various senior positions. He is also an Independent Non-Executive Director of Zee News Limited since 2006.
Rao served as International Sales head - Car Care Products of Shell International Petroleum for more than a decade till October 2006. He was the Head of Sales at Onida for more than four years. Prior to that, he was with Philips India as Area Manager.
Siti Cable (erstwhile known as Wire and Wireless India Ltd) has 54 analogue and 13 digital head-ends and a network of more than 12000 Kms of optical fibre and coaxial cable. It provides its cable services in India‘s 58 key cities and the adjoining areas, reaching out to over 10 million viewers.
