With the resignation of Uday Shankar as Chairman of The Walt Disney Company (APAC) and Chairman of Star & Disney India, we at the Exchange reached out to some of the top industry leaders for their thoughts on the big outing.
Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami had this to say: “Uday and I go a long way back and I’m one hundred percent sure whatever I take next will turn it into magic. Uday is one of the few professionals in this country today whose understanding of both content and business is very well developed. “
“Few can match his deep knowledge of the media business in India. You are going to be a great leader, a great entrepreneur, and whatever you undertake next. I am sure it will be a game changer in our industry, ”said Goswami.
Shankar took over as President of The Walt Disney Company APAC and President of Star & Disney India in February 2019.
Prior to that, he was President of 21st Century Fox for Asia and President and CEO of Star India. He took over the leadership of Star India in 2007 and transformed not only Star’s business into one of the largest and most successful media companies in Asia, but has also played an important role in revolutionizing the region’s media landscape with a huge team, bold strategy and meticulous execution.
A believer in the power of local execution, Shankar led Star’s aggressive foray into regional and local language programming, transforming Star into a content powerhouse, now streaming more than 30,000 hours of content each year.
It also consolidated Star’s sports streaming operations through 21st Century Fox’s acquisition of its joint venture with ESPN. Today, Star Sports is the largest sports broadcaster in India and is fundamentally redefining the sports ecosystem of India. In a single sport country, Star has launched multiple national sports leagues such as Kabaddi and Football and pioneered the agenda of creating a thriving multisport culture.
Under Shankar’s leadership, Star has also made progress in disrupting the country’s digital landscape with the launch of Hotstar, which is now India’s largest over-the-top (OTT) platform for professionally produced content and has become global in its presence with offerings in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
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