The year of shakeups in GEC: Big entries & exits of 2023

Year 2023 turned out to be quite eventful for the General Entertainment Channels (GECs) as several big networks, including giants such as Disney Star, Viacom18 and Sony Pictures Networks India (now Culver Max), underwent significant shuffles at the top management level.

Heads turned when Kevin Vaz quit as Head-Network Entertainment Channels, Disney Star in April this year which subsequently led to several organisational changes in the media giant. Vaz joined Viacom18 as the CEO of its TV business in July.

In July, Walt Disney extended the contract of CEO Bob Iger for two more years till December 31, 2026, for his second stint after CEO Bob Chapek was asked to step down. Iger was given the task of improving Disney's profitability. Within close to weeks of Iger’s extension, Disney also brought back Kevin Mayer as "advisor" for the network's TV business.

As we get ready to wrap up 2023, let’s take a look at the exits and appointments that made headlines and created a buzz in the industry.

Kevin Vaz

Disney Star’s Head-Network Entertainment Channels Kevin Vaz moved on from the position in April and joined Viacom18 as the CEO - Broadcast Entertainment, in July.

Vaz was elevated to his role in Disney Star in September 2021. He was earlier the Head of infotainment, kids and regional entertainment channels Star and Disney Indi. Prior to this, Vaz was the CEO - Regional Entertainment Channels - STAR India.

Before heading Disney Star’s entertainment channels, he was head of infotainment, kids and regional entertainment channels at the company. Prior to that, Vaz was CEO - Regional Entertainment Channels - STAR India.

Gaurav Banerjee

Nearly two months after Kevin Vaz quit Disney Star, the network announced several organizational changes, including expanding the role of Gaurav Banerjee from leading Content Studio for TV and Disney+ Hotstar, to also being responsible for Star Bharat, Hindi and English Movies cluster, Kids & Infotainment and the regional portfolio (East) comprising Star Jalsha and Star Kiran.

Krishnan Kutty

With this, Krishnan Kutty was made the Business and Content Head for the entire South & Marathi regional portfolio, comprising Star Suvarna, Star Maa, Asianet, Star Vijay, Star Pravah and D+ H Regional Specials for these markets.

Alok Jain

Another big movement this year was Alok Jain quitting Disney Star and joining as President - General Entertainment, Viacom18. Jain has an additional mandate to oversee the regional digital content rollout.

He joined Viacom18 after a close to seven-year stint at Disney Star. In the last two years at Disney Star, Jain was handling P&L responsibility of the company’s Telugu, Bengali, Oriya, and Kannada cluster of TV channels and Disney+Hotstar business.

Anirban Banerjee

Anirban Banerjee moved on from his position as Associate Director-Broadcast Technology at Disney Star and joined Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), now Culver Max.

He joined SPNI as Senior Technical Lead (VP) - Director Engineering where he is responsible for ensuring leadership and production support of live and recorded programming.

Banerjee has over two decades of experience in the media and entertainment industry, including 10 years in Disney Star alone. At Disney Star, he was responsible for Star Sports Feed Management Services (FMS).

Sidharth Shakdher

The most recent exit from Disney+ Hotstar was of Sidharth Shakdher, who stepped down from the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer after seven years.

Disney Star and Hotstar saw many other appointments through the year. From GroupM’s Kingshuk Mitra being appointed as the Ad Sales Head at Disney Star, to Viacom18’s Rajaraman Sundaram joining Disney Star as Head-Office of Country Manager and Dhruv Dhawan being appointed as Head of Ads at Disney+ Hotstar.

Viacom18 also underwent significant changes in its organisational structure.

Nina Elavia Japuria

Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Viacom18's Head of Hindi Mass Entertainment & Kids TV Network, parted ways with the company after 17 years of leading the pivotal businesses of Kids Entertainment and Hindi Mass Entertainment at Viacom18. Jaipuria, who had joined Viacom18 in 2006 as the business head of Nickelodeon, moved on to pursue her individual goals.

Ravish Kumar

After spending 12 years at Viacom18, Ravish Kumar decided to move on from his role as Head - Regional Entertainment (Kannada and Marathi Clusters). He had joined Viacom18 Media in 2011 as General Manager and Head of its Hindi movie channel.

Prior to joining Viacom18, Kumar was associated with Star India as the Executive Vice President and General Manager for regional channels where he was responsible for managing Star Jalsha and Star Pravah - GECs in Bengal and Maharashtra, respectively.

Manisha Sharma

Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, Manisha Sharma, moved on from the position after more than a decade of helping build Colors as a powerhouse of Hindi General Entertainment. She too had taken a route to pursue her individual goals. In 2018, Sharma who was heading programming of Colors TV, was elevated to the role of Chief Content Officer - Hindi Mass Entertainment of Viacom18. 

Kiran Mani

Viacom18 brought on board Google’s Kiran Mani as the CEO of its digital vertical this year. Mani was Google’s General Manager & MD for Android and Google Play for APAC region. He has been an Angel Investor at The Bodi Tree since 2014.

K Aravamudhan

In July this year, K Aravamudhan, the Executive Director (Government Affairs) at The Walt Disney Company, joined Viacom18 to head its public policy portfolio. At Disney Star, he worked closely with the government overseeing regulatory affairs and industry relations on behalf of the company and its regional channels, sports broadcasting and leagues (Star Sports), movie production & distribution (Star Studios) and OTT (Disney+Hotstar).

Aravamudhan joined Star India in 2007 as Manager, Corporate Communication, but he later moved to the regulatory team in 2008.

Madhuja Banerjee and Rohini Singh

Viacom18 appointed Madhuja Banerjee, ex-head of Hoichoi Originals, as programming head of Colors TV, and Rohini Singh, former programming head of Dangal TV, as Head of fiction, Colors TV. 

Pratik Maru

Pratik Maru was elevated to Vice President-Marketing at Sony Pictures Networks India. He has been with the network for over 2 years. Prior to SPNI, Maru was General Manager at Wavemaker.

Deepu Bansal

Last month, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), which has been going through several structural changes, appointed Deepu Bansal, a chartered accountant, as Independent Director for 3 years.

Janhavi Vyas

Janhavi Vyas was elevated as Head of Marketing, South Asia at Warner Bros. Discovery. She has been with the network for nearly 6 years. Prior to this, she was Associate Director Marketing Communications for two years.

Saurabh Srivastava

Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd., one of the leading players in the Indian media and entertainment industry, announced the appointment of Saurabh Srivastava as the Chief Operating Officer - Digital Business.

Abhishek Pathak

Subscription based Satellite television company Tata Play elevated Abhishek Pathak to SVP & Head (Content), handling strategy, business development and partnerships. He was previously with Tata Group as Senior Manager (Corporate Brand). Pathak also served as Manager (Special Projects) at Taj Group of Hotels. He was also with Abbott as its Brand Manager.

Apart from the above-mentioned names, others that made headlines include Abhishek Joshi, who was appointed as the Head of ShemarooMe after he stepped down from his role as SVP & Business Head - SVOD (Subscription Business) & Business Partnerships at MX Player.

Another name is Mona Jain, who was appointed to lead the Unified Sales Division at Zee Media, after the company decided to consolidate Digital (Direct Revenue) and Linear sales functions, into a Unified Sales Division.

In September this year, TV news editor anchor Rahul Shivshankar joined Network18 Group as Consulting Editor after moving on from the position of Times Now Editor-in-Chief.