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Chris Mc Donald
Chief Executive Officer
As CEO of Taj TV/Ten Sports, Chris heads all commercial, government/ regulatory, and strategic activities across all markets. Upon launching Ten Sports in April 2002, he guided the channel to profitability and its number 1 position amongst all sports channels in India within 18 months. Ten Sports has maintained its dominant market share in the subcontinent through the present day, and is one of the world’s great television success stories.
Chris began his career as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York and then moved to Hong Kong where he shifted track to sales and media. After stints with Computron Limited and Morningside Asia, Chris joined ESPN Star Sports, eventually reaching the position of Senior Vice President. During his 8 year tenure with ESPN Star Sports, he oversaw advertising sales, marketing and strategic planning, and was also the Managing Director of Sports Corporation, ESPN Star’s event management subsidiary. He was a key member of the team which launched ESPN in Asia and encrypted Star Sports in India. He was also a senior member of the management team that ensured the successful joint venture of ESPN and Star Sports. Among many achievements at ESPN Star Sports, Chris also created and launched the Asian X-Games and Asian Bowling Tour.
Chris is a graduate with honors from Dartmouth College and holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School. He enjoys rugby, squash and water sports and played basketball professionally until 1996. His interests include languages, history and travel. He is accomplished in stone masonry and landscape design and lives in Dubai where Ten Sports has its headquarters.
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Zahid Noorani
Member - Board of Directors
In addition to the directorship of the Company and other Bukhatir Investment Limited owned concerns, Zahid Noorani, is also the CEO of Cricketer's Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) and has played a key role in developing international cricket in the Middle East. Zahid Noorani is also CEO of Lahore Sports City which is US$ 4.0 billion dollar sports and real estate development project. Prior to joining CBFS, he was the Executive Director and Head of Corporate Finance & Capital Markets at KASB & Co. Ltd., in Pakistan. He has extensive experience in International trade and Finance having worked New York, Japan and Hong Kong. An MBA from San Diego State University, Mr. Noorani has significant experience in the areas of finance, Investment banking and deal structuring.
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Peter Hutton
Senior Vice President - Production and Programming
As Senior Vice President of Production and Programming, Peter runs the company's business with outside clients and other channels. He has 25 years of experience in sports media which includes work for Sky Sports, BBC TV, ITV in the UK as reporter/presenter/commentator, Producer of TWI show Futbol Mundial, Head of Production Asia for Trans World International and Managing Director of IMG South Asia. He graduated in English literature from Selwyn College, Cambridge University. Peter loves watching his favorite team Derby County and diving off the coast of Dubai. He is married to Ekta with 4 year old son Sam.
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Nikhil Diwadkar
Vice-President – Finance and Human Resources
Nikhil heads the Finance, Accounting & Human Resources department, he oversees the financial reporting to the shareholders & directors, and budgets the process of the company. He also handles the taxation matters of the company in various jurisdictions, working with the bankers, auditors and insurance brokers, and ensures statutory compliances. He has more than 16 years of experience mostly in US based multinationals with sound internal controls like Cyanamid India Ltd, Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt Ltd amongst others. He has been actively involved in setting up the accounting & reporting systems at Sony Music, and now in Taj TV Ltd. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant from India with over 15 years of post-qualification experience. He likes watching a good game of cricket or an interesting movie.
Nikhil is married to Vinaya, also a qualified Chartered Accountant from India working in Federal Express in the accounting department. Nikhil & Vinaya have a 13 year old son, Yash, studying in Class 8 in Dubai Modern High School.
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Mark Denton
Vice-President - International Sales & New Media
Mark moved to Dubai in 2001 to join the Ten Sports start up team. Mark oversees channel distribution, programme and advertising sales outside of India. He also oversees all new media activities including www.tensports.com and the roll out of the brand into the fast growing mobile space. He has over 12 years of wide ranging international television experience including 4 years in regional advertising sales with STAR TV in Hong Kong and 3 years in Channel distribution and programme sales with ESPN STAR Sports in Singapore. Mark holds an honors degree in Economics from University of Nottingham. His favorite sports include Golf, Scuba Diving, Skiing and he loves traveling.
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Steve Halis
Vice President - Operations, Engineering and MIS
Steve recently joined Ten Sports and has over 11 years experience in Television Broadcast Engineering. Steve began his broadcast engineering career with the Nine Network in Australia and was involved in the first implementation of a High Definition Television service in Australia. Steve then moved on to ESPN Star Sports in Singapore, where he gained valuable experience managing a large team of engineers and Master Control Operations personnel and was involved in numerous major projects. Steve obtained his Electronics Engineering qualifications from the Northern Territory University in Australia after a previous career in Mechanical Engineering.
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Rukin Kizilbash
General Manager - Taj Television (India) Pvt Ltd.
Rukin looks after advertising sales, distribution & marketing for Taj TV India and is responsible for maximising revenues, developing new clients and activating new business.
Rukin comes to Ten Sports with more than 10 years experience in the television sports broadcast industry in India - including five years with ESPN Star Sports and then a brief stint with IMG.
Loves to keep himself fit playing tennis & squash, and enjoys reading a good novel when he can find time off from his busy work schedule.
Rukin is married to Celita and blessed with a daughter Nicole.
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Faraz Ansari
General Manager, Pakistan
Faraz heads advertising sales for Tower Sports Pvt. Ltd., the company responsible for distribution and advertising sales of Ten Sports in Pakistan.
Faraz brings with him over 10 years of television experience. He has previously held senior positions with Sports Star International, selling entertainment and sports content on the national broadcaster PTV including the 1999 Cricket World Cup and Matrix Media, a media management company holding accounts of Tetley Tea and Colgate Palmolive. Prior to joining the company, Faraz held the position of General Manager, Sales and Marketing for TV One, a leading general entertainment channel.
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Gargi Kaul,
Vice President - Advertising Sales, India
Gargi Kaul heads advertising sales for Taj Television India and has been a core member of the advertising sales function from her region for the past 4 years. She heads a team of dedicated professionals and under her leadership Taj TV advertising sales continues to grow from strength to strength.
Gargi brings with her over 10 years of television experience in sales from organizations like ESPN Star Sports and Sony entertainment television and has been a part of the biggest tours/ events sold in the country in the sports business.
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C. M. Kishan
Vice President - Distribution
Kishan heads Distribution for Taj Television. He is responsible in ensuring the channel is distributed and placed well to achieve optimum reach and visibility. He comes in with 14 years of Industry related experience, of which 9 years have been with various Broadcasters. He has had valuable stints at Time Warner owned Turner International, Viacom’s MTV Networks and Zee Turner before joining Taj. Kishan is keen a sportsperson who plays Club Cricket and Ten Pin Bowling and gets into creative writing at leisure. Kishan lives in Bangalore with his wife Saraswathi and Daughter Hitisha.
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