ZEE5 Global has highlighted the leadership journey of Sanmesh Thakur, Executive Vice President and Territory Head for APAC, who has been leading strategic growth and operations for both Zee Entertainment and ZEE5 Global across the Asia-Pacific region since October 2022.
In his role, Thakur holds a dual P&L mandate spanning Zee’s linear broadcast network and the Zee5 OTT streaming platform across 15+ APAC markets, leading cross-functional teams across sales, distribution, content, and marketing with full commercial accountability. Since taking on this responsibility, he has played a pivotal role in accelerating Zee’s growth across the region through market-specific strategies, strategic partnerships, and a focus on deepening audience engagement and accessibility.
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Thakur has been instrumental in expanding Zee’s brand presence across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and other diverse and rapidly evolving APAC markets. A strong advocate of localisation, he has consistently focused on creating content adapted to resonate with regional audiences, balancing cultural relevance with the scale of a global media brand.
Among his notable initiatives is the integration of local talent from Malaysia and Singapore into Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Tamil, Zee’s flagship singing talent show. The initiative drove deeper audience engagement across Southeast Asian markets, attracted local sponsorship interest, and opened up new revenue opportunities for the format beyond its traditional Indian base.
Thakur brings over 17 years of experience spanning media, entertainment, OTT, telecom, and technology. Prior to Zee, he spent close to a decade at Viu (PCCW Media) across two stints, where he held progressive roles building and scaling OTT and content businesses across multiple APAC markets. His earlier career includes stints at Bango, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Teleservices.
He has represented Zee at major global industry platforms including Asia TV Forum (ATF), FILMART, and MipTV.
Sanmesh Thakur, Executive Vice President and Territory Head, APAC at Zee Entertainment, said, “APAC is one of the most dynamic and fast-evolving regions for entertainment, with audiences that expect stories to be both culturally authentic and globally compelling. What excites me is the opportunity to build at the intersection of content, technology, and commercial strategy, creating scalable models that serve diverse markets while staying deeply local. The work we’ve done at Zee across 15+ markets, from localised content formats to strategic distribution partnerships, reflects that philosophy. I believe the next wave of growth in APAC entertainment will belong to operators who can combine creative ambition with commercial discipline and the ability to execute on the ground, market by market.”
