Sony Entertainment Television (SET) CEO Kunal Dasgupta is an master, who runs an master piece channel, he stepped into the top slot in 1996. Presently, he is the longest-serving CEO in the history of any media or entertainment company in India.

Under Dasgupta’s leadership, SET grew from a one-channel service to four. It’s also a partner in The One Alliance bouquet that distributes 11 other channels in India. His leadership has brought in the SET Singapore as a part of the restructuring process in 2006 SET Singapore broadcasts and unlinks Sony channels, SET India, on the other hand, is the advertising and sales agent of the Singapore broadcaster.

Kunal Dasgupta, the head of Sony Entertainment Television (SET) all through from 1995. Of these, the last two have been particularly nerve jangling. Everything that could go wrong did. Ratings and revenues plummeted and Dasgupta's crack team, the one that made Sony one of the country's largest broadcasters, broke up.

At one point in 2001, Dasgupta is rumoured to have almost lost his job. Miraculously, he hung on. What's more, in arguably the biggest gamble of his career, he convinced his board to bid an estimated $250 million or roughly Rs 1,150 crore for the satellite telecast rights to two cricket World Cups, three International Cricket Council tournaments and the under-19 World Cup. It was a crazy price considering that ESPN made just $24 million on the last World Cup on a price of $12 million. Sony's teetering topline couldn't take it, reckoned rivals. The buzz throughout 2002 was that Dasgupta, would definitely lose his job with this decision of his.

He did not. With providence and Mandira Bedi on his side, Dasgupta's gamble worked. Channel share and ratings have risen. So have revenues. While it may still not be the darling of the masses, Sony is clearly back to being a respectable, if somewhat distant, No. 3 to Star and Zee TV in the Rs 10,000-crore broadcasting market.

SPECIAL
I am driven by…
..the fact that I feel passionate about my responsibilities.

My team can be defined as…
..a seamless, integrated group that drives each area Kunal to a common Guha goal and performs with extreme efficiency. I can put it simply by saying that my team is ‘engaged’.

The company is nothing but your peers and your bosses
The culture at SET has been that of openness and trust and of extremely high confidence. Injustice is rooted out by the people themselves, and we embody sincerity and mutual respect. The benefit of such a culture is that people will feel for the company whether they are in or out. At the end of the day, the company is nothing but the people you work with and your bosses and such a culture makes the working environment comfortable and reduces pressure.

Rewarding the high-fliers
One way of rewarding great people is letting them publicly know that they’re doing a wonderful job and by offering them better remuneration. Other non-financial perks could include a better job that calls for more responsibility, which would fulfil their need for career development.

Ideas are reflected in ratings
Ideas get reported in employee ratings. And to be honest, 90 percent of the ideas don’t work.

I don’t hire mediocre people..
…so the question of firing people for being unproductive doesn’t arise. Basic issues like dishonesty and fraud would lead me to fire people.

Fresh blood=Innovative ideas
We renew our organisation every year. Around 70 percent of our workforce is less than 2 years old in the company. This is because we believe that new people have fresh opinions and are able to come up with new and innovative ideas in certain areas, like programming, marketing and so on.

Secret to success
SET tries to produce vibrant, innovative shows that are highly entertaining and extremely engaging. And people have come to expect that from us now. We encourage innovation and this has contributed to our popularity. Of course, you have to live up to the brand that you have built.