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Saavn, The World's Largest Digital Distributor of Bollywood Entertainment, Names Rishi Malhotra President & COO

Posted on: Monday, 13 April 2009, 10:31 CDT

NEW YORK, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Saavn (www.saavn.com), the largest digital distributor of Bollywood entertainment, announced today that Rishi Malhotra has been appointed president and COO of Saavn, and partner in [212]MEDIA. Malhotra is responsible for further accelerating the growth of Saavn, which is already the world's fastest growing Bollywood media and marketing company. He oversees programming, distribution, and strategic entertainment deals for the company.

Saavn is the exclusive rights holder for more than 70% of new Bollywood movie and music releases. Saavn packages movies, music and television shows for digital platforms including cable VOD, Internet and mobile. Saavn's partners include iTunes, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Amazon, NetFlix, YouTube, Verizon Wireless, Verizon V CAST, among others.

Malhotra brings more than 10 years of experience in digital media and entertainment to the position. Before joining Saavn, he was vice president of multi-platform program marketing at HBO where he developed multi-platform strategies and VOD programming for shows like Big Love, The Wire, Def Comedy Jam and many of the sports franchises. He was also responsible for overseeing product management and marketing for HBO On Demand, Cinemax On Demand and iTV initiatives. Prior to his years at HBO, Malhotra held positions with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Elias Arts, and Proxicom.

"Rishi's passion for global entertainment-from the genre's films and music to the development of new projects, combined with his unrivalled knowledge of digital media makes him a perfect fit for the company," said Paramdeep Singh, co-founder and managing director at Saavn. "Rishi's already brought tremendous value to the organization and developed major network deals for Saavn. He brings clear vision to growing our entertainment business," said Vin Bhat, co-founder and CEO.

"While Slumdog Millionaire has been a tipping point for Indian entertainment worldwide, bringing this programming to larger audiences on multiple platforms is a true global opportunity," said Malhotra. "I'm honored to join such a talented team at this very exciting time in the industry. We're working closely with our partners to grow digital distribution plans and are involved with a number of new programming projects. We continue to see amazing collaboration with some of the best entertainment brands in the business."

Malhotra will be based in Saavn's New York City office. Saavn also has offices in Los Angeles, Mumbai, London, and Toronto.

About Saavn:

Saavn brings the best of Bollywood and Indian entertainment to the world. As the largest digital distributor in Bollywood, Saavn owns the digital rights to hundreds of movies, more than 250,000 music tracks, 20,000 music videos, and 10,000 ringtones. Saavn programs, packages and distributes its exclusive catalog and new Bollywood releases to more than 75 global media companies including Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, NetFlix, Verizon Wireless and Apple's iTunes. Saavn is a joint venture of [212]MEDIA and Hungama Mobile, and the company has offices in Mumbai, London, New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. To find out more, visit: http://www.saavn.com.

About [212]MEDIA:

[212]MEDIA is a privately held digital media firm that owns and operates a portfolio of businesses in partnership with major media companies across different verticals. [212]MEDIA's properties include: Saavn.com, the largest content distributor of Bollywood entertainment in the world; Sportsvite, a leading online community for recreational athletes; Speakaboos, a publisher of educational and entertaining digital storybooks for children; and SnakBlox, a distribution platform for advertising-supported games online. The company is headquartered in New York City with presence in Arlington (VA), Denver, London, and Mumbai. For more information, please visit www.212media.com.

About Hungama Mobile:

Hungama Mobile, a division of Virtual Marketing India Pvt Ltd (VMIL) was launched in 2001 and in this short span of time is now the largest aggregator, developer and publisher of Bollywood and South Asian mobile and digital entertainment content in the world. Through the company's relationships with leading carriers and direct access to established Media & Entertainment companies, Hungama Mobile is able to secure top entertainment properties and extend brand value through personalization of content, games, SMS campaigns and various different promotions spanning the entire gamut.

Hungama Mobile runs a comprehensive network across 50+ carriers in over 30 countries and is the worldwide exclusive rights holders to over 70% of all Bollywood content for mobile and online publishing. Headquartered in Mumbai, India and with offices in Dubai, London and New York City, Kaula Lumpur - Malaysia, Hungama Mobile has been propelled into a leading position by its dynamic CEO Mr. Neeraj Roy who was recently elected vice chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum, along with his motivated, experienced management team.

SOURCE Saavn

Source: PR Newswire

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