Day-to-day channel res-ponsibilities have passed to Mukerjea's former number two, Sameer Nair, who has been promoted to a new position, CEO of Star Entertainment India. Nair now reports to regional COO Steve Askew, while Mukerjea still reports to Star regional CEO Michelle Guthrie.
The restructure has been seen as a snub for Mukerjea, though others outside the company have stressed the importance of his new brief for Star. "He gets a new project completely, DTH, which is going to shape the future of the Indian TV industry over the next three to four years," one industry observer said.
Meanwhile, Nair's promotion has been seen as a move to prevent him from taking a job outside Star, at a critical juncture in the network's development in India.
Star India moves Mukerjea to new corporate posting
Star has reshuffled its top management in India, moving CEO Peter Mukerjea into a new corporate role with responsibility for platform development, months before the anticipated launch of Star's DTH JV, Tata Sky.
