Reliance Industries, Viacom18 Media, and The Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced the formal launch of their new joint venture. The joint venture will be led by a powerhouse leadership team, with Nita M. Ambani appointed as the Chairperson. Uday Shankar, former Chairman of Star India and a key architect behind the merger, will serve as Vice Chairperson, offering strategic direction to the combined entity.
Driving the day-to-day operations will be three CEOs, each at the helm of distinct areas of the business. Kevin Vaz will lead the entertainment division, overseeing broadcast and digital platforms. Kiran Mani, who previously headed Viacom18’s digital ventures, will now steer the combined digital organization. Meanwhile, Sanjog Gupta, a veteran of Disney Star’s sports division, will take charge of the newly unified sports business.
The leadership appointments reflect the ambition of the joint venture, which combines the strengths of three media giants.
Several key executives from both Viacom18 and Disney have been appointed to crucial roles, ensuring that the merged entity’s operations are smoothly integrated and poised for future growth.
- Alok Jain will head the entertainment cluster for the Reliance-Disney JV, which includes the Colors brand and encompasses the Hindi, Niche, Movies, and Studio divisions. He will be supported by a team that includes Vivek Srivastava, Arnab Das, Rohan Lavsi, Anu Sikka, Anshul Ailawadi, Ajit Andhare, Shital Iyer, and Prachi Sahay, all of whom will report to him.
- Sumanta Bose will oversee the cluster for Star Plus and its regional channels, including Bengali, Marathi, and Gujarati. His team will consist of Deepak Chhabria, Harsh Sheth, Koustuvi Ghosh, Vivek Modi, Vipul Nagar, Satish Rajwade, Pratik Parmimi, and Arnab Deb.
- Krishnan Kutty will spearhead entertainment strategy for South India, overseeing content across the region’s platforms. His team includes Sushma Rajesh, Balachandran R, Raghava Vaidyula, Kishan Kumar, Himabindu Chitta, and Prachi Mohapatra.
- Ajit Varghese will serve as the Head of Revenue for Entertainment & International. Under his leadership, Mahesh Shetty will head LCS client engagement and cross-screen leverage. Dhruv Dhawan will focus on digital growth for mid-tier and emerging clients with a regional focus. Shubra Sethi, Kingshuk Mitra, and Sudhir Nagpal will also be part of Varghese’s team.
As the joint venture takes shape, several key appointments were also made to support the company’s broad range of business functions:
- Piyush Goyal has been appointed Head of TV Distribution. Goyal, who joined from IndiaCast, will focus on expanding the distribution network.
- Ishan Chatterjee, who recently joined JioCinema as Chief Business Officer, will oversee business operations for Sports Revenue, SMB, and creator partnerships. His team will include Anup Govindan, Arup Bansal, Sunil Pasricha, Radhe Shyam Adidam, Kanishk Khanna, and Saurabh Mishra.
- Sushant Sreeram, who came onboard as JioCinema’s Chief Marketing Officer earlier this year, will now oversee marketing strategy across the joint venture.
- Ambuj Kashyap will work alongside Uday Shankar, focusing on strategic initiatives and business development.
On the operational front, Rasesh Upadhyay, Gaurav Gokhale, and Bharat Ram will play key roles in business strategy, digital operations, and product development, respectively.
Technology and engineering leadership
In the technology and engineering domains, the venture will be led by Akash Saxena, who brings his experience from Viacom18 as Chief Technical & Product Officer.
Shoury Bharadwaj, formerly with Flipkart, will now take charge as Head of Engineering, focusing on viewer experience. Vijay Seshadri, a former engineering fellow at Swiggy, will serve as the Chief Architect of the venture’s technical infrastructure.
Human Resources, Partnerships, and Communications
In terms of HR and corporate communications, Rishi Gaind has been appointed Head of Human Resources, coming from Disney Star, while George Cherian will lead Corporate Communications, a role he previously held at Disney Star.
Transition leadership
The merger will also see critical leadership roles focused on ensuring a seamless transition and integration of the two companies’ operations. Rajat Nigam has been named Transition Head of IT and Media Operations, while Mukesh Mundhra will serve as Transition Finance Head. Mani Rangarajan and Kshripra Jatana will work closely on financial integration and legal matters, respectively.
With these key leadership appointments, the joint venture is poised to disrupt the media industry, leveraging its combined expertise in broadcast, digital content, and sports. The collaboration brings together the vast networks of Viacom18, Disney, and Reliance, positioning the new entity as a dominant force in India’s media landscape.
