The Star India leadership factory: Nurturing media bosses

As Sanjay Gupta takes over as the role of Google’s APAC President, we find this an opportune time to look back at how Star TV, under Uday Shankar, became a powerhouse for developing leaders. Shankar’s leadership created a platform for nurturing talent and preparing them for major roles in the industry. His vision at Star TV led to the rise of several key leaders who are now shaping the media business world.

Under Uday Shankar’s leadership at Star India and later Disney Star, numerous executives were onboarded across various leadership levels, including TV business, digital, distribution, legal, and human resources. His strategic hires and mentorship not only strengthened media enterprises, but also influenced the broader corporate world, emphasizing innovation, inclusivity, and forward-thinking leadership.

This underscores Shankar's role not just as a business builder but as a transformative figure, who has left an indelible mark on the media and business landscape.

In 2007, when Uday Shankar took over as the CEO of Star India, he initiated hirings at all levels.

One of the prominent names to be associated with Disney Star is Sanjay Gupta, who has recently been elevated as President - APAC at Google. He was one of Shankar’s key hires at Star India. Gupta joined Google in 2020 as Country Manager after moving out of Disney Star where he was the Managing Director. Gupta had been instrumental in driving Star India's growth as expanded traditional television content to digital platforms through Hotstar and oversaw the adoption of HD channels. He was instrumental in curating Hotstar, India’s first media-led company powered through technology.

Shankar also significantly contributed to building Star’s sports portfolio by acquiring rights for premier events such as IPL and ICC. He led collaborations with BCCI and innovations in sports entertainment with the launch of leagues in kabaddi and football.

Kevin Vaz, CEO, Viacom18, too has worked closely with Shankar in the past. However, he joined Star much before Shankar took over as CEO. Vaz is among the key people who Shankar handpicked for his next venture. He joined Star in 1996 in sales functions. At Star, he headed multiple roles; from CEO- Regional Entertainment Channels to the President & Head of Network Entertainment Channels at Star India before taking over as Viacom CEO. Now he handles the entire portfolio, including TV and digital at Viacom18 excluding sports. 

The other name to feature among these head honchos is Gaurav Banerjee. Last month, Culver Max Entertainment (Sony Pictures Network India) appointed Banerjee its new CEO. Banerjee, who will be replacing NP Singh, was with Star India (now Disney Star) for over 16 years.

Like Shankar, Banerjee’s career spanned from his early days as a journalist to being a key leader at Disney Star. He was pivotal in shaping the network's entertainment portfolio. Under his leadership, the network launched successful shows leading the charts both on linear TV and digital. Banerjee's leadership at the Hindi Content Studio has resulted in numerous top-ranking shows like Anupama, Ghum Hai Kisi Ke Pyaar Mein, and Imlie. His contributions to Disney+ Hotstar include creating award-winning originals like Aarya and Special Ops.

Another key hire by Shankar was Ajit Mohan, currently serving as President - APAC, Snap Inc. Mohan joined Star TV Network as Senior VP, Corporate in 2012 and later in 2015 he was elevated as the CEO of Hotstar. Mohan was the founding CEO of the streaming platform and built Hotstar as the leading platform in India. After resigning from Hotstar in 2018, Mohan joined Meta as VP and Managing Director-India.

Avinash Pandey, who recently quit as the CEO of AB Network, was also one of Shankar's hires when he was with Star News. Shankar supervised and mentored his work in the initial years. Pandey has been with ABP Network for over 19 years. Started as Assistant VP, Head Revenue (North & East). He donned multiple hats at ABP before taking over as CEO in 2019.

As Shankar set about building Star, his first external leadership hire was Nitin Kukreja from Morgan Stanley.

Kukreja, currently the CEO of Allen Career Institute, was the one who acquired Star Sports ESPN and then built Star Sports into the regional sports behemoth, progressing from single language commentary.

He built the strategy and M&A function in Star and crafted the strategic blueprint for Star’s growth journey under Uday’s guidance. In his second stint, Kukreja reshaped the sports broadcasting landscape in India by unlocking regional language commentary, delivering the iconic Mauka Mauka campaign on the way. He also launched Kabaddi and ISL.

Interestingly, the duo is back together post their stint in Disney Star, with Nitin Kukreja currently the CEO of Allen Career Institute and Mr. Shankar as the Chairman of the Board. Allen is one of the two portfolio companies that Shankar has backed in his new avatar as an investor-operator.

Netflix, VP Content, Monika Shergill, is another key hire of Star India. She joined Star as a programming head of Star One and later was promoted as Senior Creative Director, Non-Fiction, Star Plus. In 2013 she promoted as creative consultant. 

Amit Chopra, Co-founder of Avanzia Global Private Ltd., was with Star TV Network for over six years. Chopra was heading ad sales for Star India. He joined the network in 2013 as President of sales. Chopra moved out of Star and joined Esme Consumer Private Ltd. as Managing Director and CEO. 

Gayatri Yadav, currently serving as Chief Marketing Officer at Peak XV Partners, was the President Consumer Strategy and Innovation at Star TV Network. She left Star India after 8 years and joined Sequoia Capital as CMO India and SEA. Yadav was part of the leadership at Star India.

Whether it is the business side or the content side, formar Star executives and content heads are leading content at even big streaming platforms.

Nikhil Madhok is another such name who is currently heading original content in India at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. Madhok had donned multiple hats at Star. He was heading Hotstar Original content and programming at Star Plus. Madhok was also behind the planning and execution of big shows like Satyamev Jayate and Mahabharat.

Uday Shankar also built Star's sports portfolio. Under his leadership, the network won the media rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The company then hired some excellent talent for the network to build the sports portfolio. Gautam Thakar, who is now  Global CEO, EDtech, Prosus Group was hired as CEO and President of Star Sports.

After Gautam Thakar left, Sanjog Gupta took over as the Star Sports CEO in 2020. Gupta joined Star in 2009 as a consultant. Before handling the sports content, he worked as VP whereas he was heading content strategy and development for Life Ok. Like Banerjee and Shankar himself, Gupta too comes from a journalist background. He also worked at Star News India and TV Today Network in the past where Shankar also worked in early days of his career.

Rajeev Beotra, currently serving as Executive Director at HT Media, was with Star India from 2014 to 2016. Beotra joined the company as President ad sales (sports) and later was promoted as President ad sales.

Anil Jayaraj, who recently stepped down as CEO of Viacom18 Sports, was earlier with Star TV Network. He served as the executive VP for over six years. Under him, Star Sports ad revenue jumped from Rs 1000 crore in 2015 to Rs 3000 crore plus in 2021. 

Alok Jain, currently President, General Entertainment at Viacom18, was with Star for over six years. He joined Star in 2016 as EVP and Business Head (Telugu) and later was promoted to EVP and Head Disney Star's Telugu, Bengali, Oriya and Kannada businesses for TV and digital.

On the other hand, Arghya Chakravarty, currently serving as COO at Shemaroo Entertainment was the EVP- Ad sales, Entertainment business at Star TV Network. He joined Star in 2017 and worked for over four years before moving on to COO role at Shemaroo.

Uday Shankar under his leadership hired people across sectors. Some people joined Star from FMCG giants like HUL or tech giants like Google. Nitin Bawankule, currently the director and head - telco, media entertainment and game tech at Amazon Web Services, joined Disney Star as Head - Ad Sales from Google. He was responsible for the county ad sales revenues from Linear and digital video platforms.

Prateek Garg, Managing Director at Marigold Park Capital, an Affiliate of Bodhi Tree, was another key hire of Shankar. Joined Star India in 2012, Garg was the one who has bid and won all IPL bids and several other cricket ones. He was with Disney Star for over 11 years. 

Garg held a pivotal role at Star-Disney for a decade, where he spearheaded the Strategy, Business Development, and M&A initiatives for the Asia Pacific region.

His strategic acumen was instrumental in driving transformative M&A deals, winning big cricket rights and shaping Disney's digital strategy.

Garg played a key role in expanding digital services across various international markets, including the USA, UK, Canada, Indonesia, and Singapore.

He currently works as Managing Director in Bodhi Tree, the investment firm founded by Shankar in partnership with  James Murdoch.

On the distribution side, Gurjeev Singh Kapoor, was also hired under his leadership as Head - Distribution and International, Disney Star. Kapoor has been associated with Star for over 16 years now. He spearheaded the transformation of the India distribution business under a pioneering channel retail pricing regime and strengthened the network’s presence across TV homes in the country. Segmented channel bundles were rolled out under his guidance to enable consumer choice with affordable pricing and attractive packaging options. He has played a significant role in making Sports more accessible to the Indian audiences by ensuring mass adoption of the Star Sports portfolio across semi-urban and rural segments, as well as regional languages.

On the legal front, Deepak Jacob, who headed legal and regulatory functions at the Star network, is now working at Dream Sports as President Corporate Affairs and Group General Counsel. He joined Star in 2008 and was associated with the company for over 15 years. Jacob managed a team of 140 lawyers and non lawyers across the region and was reporting to Shankar.

Saurabh Yagnik, COO of ABP Network, was with Star for five years. Yagnik worked with HUL and ITC before he joined Star TV Network as Senior VP in 2007 and later was promoted as SVP and Business Head English Channels Cluster.

Rupali Fernandes, the current Chief Revenue Officer at ABP Network, was associated with Star India for 20 years. Fernandes was handling sales and strategy for geo targeting products. She moved out of the company as Executive Vice President - Star Sports, Advertising Sales and Strategy. 

On the Human Resources side too, we have Amita Maheshwari, who joined Star India in 2009 as President and Head HR. In her role, she hired global talent for CEOs and CXO levels, apart from key positions for Hotstar and for linear TV. In 2019 she was promoted as the Head of HR - APAC and India, International Content and Operations, TWDC and Star India.

Piyush Goyal, the current COO of IndiaCast, was with Star TV Network for over 7 years from 2016. He was EVP - National Head, Affiliate Sales during his stint. He has over 16 years of experience in building businesses, strategy, distribution and operations. Goyal has also worked with Network18 and NDTV, spearheading the distribution function.

Also, Nikhil Mirchandani, now an entrepreneur and owner of HOOP Entertainment, was with Star India as EVP and General Manager from 2009-2011.

Now that Uday Shankar is the Vice Chairman of the Disney Star and RIL merged entity, industry observers expect him to weave the same magic that he earlier did while at Star.

Industry observers have been talking about companies earning a reputation as a CEO factory, Shankar is perhaps single handedly doing the same thing. Shankar's leadership philosophy and strategic approach to talent acquisition distinguish him as a standout leader.