Gaurav Gandhi to head Prime Video in India

NEW DELHI: Streaming platform Amazon Prime Video on Thursday appointed Gaurav Gandhi as the director and head of its business in India.

The service that was launched in India in December 2016 has so far focused on acquiring movie content, Bollywood and regional, besides creating originals in Indian languages.

Its journey in the country has been marked by competition with the other American streaming service Netflix besides more than 30 over-the-top (OTT) video-ondemand platforms vying for audiences’ attention.

“In this role, Gaurav is responsible for the overall Amazon Prime Video business in India, marketing and brand awareness, product innovation and distribution. Vijay Subramaniam, director & head of content, Amazon Prime Video India, will continue his role leading content acquisition and development of Prime Video’s Indian Originals. Together, Gaurav and Vijay will continue to deliver a Prime Video service that Indian Prime members love,” the company said in a statement.

In terms of monthly active users, Amazon Prime Video ranked fourth, as per data by App Annie, a mobile app data and insights firm, for the period between July and September 2017.

Gandhi takes over from Nitesh Kripalani, who quit as director and country head of Amazon Prime Video India in August 2017. Kripalani had said he needed to focus on his “health” and cited personal reasons for the exit.

Gandhi was most recently the chief operating officer at Viacom18 Digital Ventures, where he launched the company’s video streaming service VOOT.