Twitter India Strengthens Leadership Position in Fast-Growing Social TV Market

Twitter India has appointed Viral Jani as Head of TV Partnerships, who will be based at the company’s office in Mumbai. As part of his new role, Viral will work closely with the complete TV ecosystem of broadcasters, production houses and audience measurement systems to make Twitter the second screen to TV in India.

Viral’s main responsibility will be to forge strategic partnerships with broadcasters to help channels amplify their message, drive more viewers, and generate more user engagement with their content on Twitter. He aims to lead  this social TV movement in India in two ways: by bringing the best content from TV channels to Twitter’s platform for live, public conversations, while enabling Twitter as an incredible video and visual-driven storytelling platform to drive tune-in and audience engagement for the TV channels.

Moving forward, Viral is keen to position Twitter as the largest virtual couch for viewing TV content in India, and facilitate broadcasters to use the full suite of Twitter’s products such as Twitter native video, Twitter Amplify, Vine, Periscope, SnappyTV and TV analytics. The real magic takes place, Viral believes, when brands follow a thorough content-driven strategy to optimise on the Twitter+TV experience. Each of the Twitter TV products boosts viewer engagement and helps provide unique Twitter content surrounding a TV show - Tweets, photos, videos, live chats with on-air talent, Twitter polls, and behind-the-scenes Periscope videos. Twitter is complementary to the full experience of a TV channel today, and each Tweet is an opportunity to strengthen relationships with the TV audience.

Rishi Jaitly, Vice President, Media, Asia Pacific and Middle East, Twitter said, “Twitter is the ultimate companion to television and we have invested considerable time and effort in partnerships with TV broadcasters worldwide to ensure they are able to amplify the live, public conversations about their shows on our platform. In his new role, Viral will expand Twitter’s leadership and footprint in the social TV market in India, prioritising TV partners that drive audience engagement and growth.”

Viral Jani, Head of TV Partnerships, Twitter India said, “Television is one of the largest conversation generators on Twitter, and viewers are far more engaged when they are watching TV and Tweeting at the same time. Twitter is also where viewers discover great TV content that is being watched now, from live events to scripted shows to reality TV. I’m thrilled to join the team at this exciting time for Twitter in India.”

With more than 12 years of experience in the media industry, Viral has previously worked at broadcasting group Times Television Network, where he was instrumental in building a strong social media presence for their channels - Times Now, Zoom & ET NOW, in addition to managing the portfolio of content strategy and audience insights for their TV Business. Under his leadership both entertainment and news verticals of Times Network achieved the best in class engagement on Twitter and other social platforms.

Prior to joining the Times Television Network, Viral handled assignments for some of the biggest media houses in India like NDTV, Disney, Viacom & Mindshare. He offers a unique mix of strategic understanding with hands-on experience in managing content, audience insights, ad sales revenue and TV distribution with experience spanning more than 20 brands in news, entertainment, kids and regional language genres.