Skandha initiates MENA expansion with hire of Dubai-based...

Skandha initiates MENA expansion with hire of Dubai-based Managing Partner of Product & Growth

Neha Modi to lead growth strategy and steer solutions roadmap to align with region-specific needs of MENA OTT/streaming platforms

Mumbai, India - December 9, 2024 - Skandha Media Services, a leader in scalable managed playout, broadcast, and OTT services, that leverage cloud technology, automation, AI, and machine learning, has appointed Neha Modi as its Managing Partner of Product & Growth to lead the company's expansion into the Middle East and North Africa.

MENA is a key market for Skandha. The demand for live streaming of sports and events has rapidly increased since the region began investing heavily in sports infrastructure and hosting events such as F1 and FIFA 2022 World Cup. According to The World Economic Forum, the Middle East s sports industry is expected to grow by 8.7% by 2026 compared with global sector growth of 3.3% over the same period.

The region's growing fanbase of mass-appeal and niche sports, as well as the demand for local and Arabic content, is presenting new revenue opportunities for rights holders, content aggregators and advertisers, says Nitin Jain, managing partner, Business & Solutions Engineering at Skandha Media Services.

We can add real value to OTT/streaming platforms in the region by helping them realise and maximise on these new commercial opportunities and to navigate the nuances that come with Ad-supported models. With Neha's deep-rooted knowledge and familiarity with the decision makers in this market, we can engage the region s most innovative M&E organisations in meaningful conversation.

Modi will assume a strategic role at Skandha, focusing on the market penetration of its cutting-edge cloud and on-prem playout services and monetization platforms. She will also help steer the direction of the company's product roadmap, leveraging market insights and feedback from her extensive network of industry peers, innovators, influencers and potential customers in MENA.

With Skandha's proven success in South Asia where there is a similar diversity of users, viewer preferences, interests and languages, their expertise in tailored and scalable playout operations and AI-powered Ad delivery and verification tools is of high value to the MENA region, particularly when it comes to the generation of new revenue opportunities in the streaming of live events and sport, observes Modi.

Modi brings a wealth of experience from her 13+ year career in the M&E industry, spanning technical support, testing, QA, and product management roles. Based in Dubai for over a decade, she has been instrumental to the success of numerous user engagement and monetization initiatives at some of the region's most high-profile broadcast and OTT platforms.

Most recently, at OSN, Modi contributed to the development of new features on the OSNtv box, including On-Demand, TVOD, and a Gen AI-powered recommendation engine, resulting in a significant increase in user engagement. While serving at STARZPLAY for eight years, during which time its customer base grew from a few thousand to 2.5million, Modi held various product management roles where she led cross-functional teams, shaped strategic roadmaps, and optimised resource allocation. She also successfully launched four OTT white-label products across South Asia and the GCC involving integration for multiple telco bundles and payment gateways, driving product scalability and engagement.

In her early career, Modi secured positions at Jio and Millennium Semiconductors in India after qualifying as a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Communication from Gujarat University. Modi also recently completed a post graduate certificate program in Product Management with The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), Indore.

Skandha is focused on understanding the intricacies and challenges that are specific to meeting the business objectives of MENA's M&E organisations on a local, regional and international level, as they have already demonstrated with existing customers Disney+ HotStar, Tata/Sky and Jio Cinema, continued Modi. The company's collaborative approach, plus the team s enthusiasm to embrace new technology and ideas will be warmly received by organisations in the region.

Neha has a genuine passion for emerging technology, a strong voice and a pulse on industry trends across MENA, added Jain. Such qualities give her a natural ability to build long and impressionable relationships with innovators at every level, and to provide well-informed strategic direction.

We're excited to have arrived in this buoyant market and we're looking forward to establishing a prominent presence to offer our proven expertise in the realm of live playout, concludes Jain.

For more information please visit www.skandhams.com.

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