With the news of Uday Shankar’s resignation as Chairman of The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman of Star & Disney India, as of December 31, 2020, there is already speculation about his next move.
If we look at Shankar’s career path, it is replete with his signature leadership style, which can be summed up as — think big, scale, and interrupt.
Over the past decade and a half, Shankar has become a prominent personality in the media and entertainment space. His calm demeanor and astute understanding of the media landscape have become part of boardroom folklore. For example, when Star India won the global broadcasting and digital media rights for the Indian Premier League for a whopping Rs 16,347 crore over five years, many critics rolled their eyes but had to give in because Shankar’s game plan Worked well. And as they say, rest is history.
Shankar is also credited with leading Star’s aggressive foray into regional and local language programming, transforming the network into a content powerhouse. It also advanced on the digital landscape with the launch of Hotstar, which is now India’s largest over-the-top (OTT) platform.
Uday Shankar is also the only media thought leader to have won two coveted titles: Impact Person of the Year (2010) and Impact Person of the Decade (2014). The Impact Person of the Year is the highest, most coveted and respected award in marketing, advertising and media.
Even before his stint at Star, Shankar’s charisma was his defining trait, whether during his stint as CEO and editor of Star News (now ABP News) or editor and news director at TV Today Group, where he spearheaded the launch. by Aaj Tak. and Headlines Today (now India Today).
Although it’s unclear what his next move would be, based on our deliberations with industry experts, here are three speculations going on.
Shankar is rumored to be able to lead the Reliance media empire. It should be noted that until last month, the proposed merger between Reliance-owned Viacom18 and Sony Pictures Networks was up for grabs and would likely be announced in mid-September. However, due to a last minute strategic rethink by Reliance Industries Limited, the deal has been canceled.
Speculation also abounds about his joining Murdoch’s Lupa Systems. It would be relevant to mention that James Murdoch’s startup was eager to buy a stake in Zee Entertainment, India’s largest private broadcaster, which was eventually bought by Invesco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund for $ 600 million.
Buzz is also that Shankar can take his political inputs seriously with the blessings of Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other top leaders of the country.
Additionally, two more positions offered to Shankar were rejected by him in the past six months. First was a global leadership role at Disney’s Burbank headquarters in California, USA Second, there was the position of Global CEO of NewsCorp, again based at NewsCorp headquarters, New York. However, exchange4media learned that Shankar turned down both jobs because he did not want to move to the US and wanted to have Mumbai and India as a base.
But Shankar, for his part, has maintained that he plans to partner with global investors and pioneers to “give back.”
“For some time now, I have been contemplating the question of how do I give back to the country, the community and the industry that have given me so much. I believe the best way to express my gratitude to all of them will be by supporting and guiding a new generation of entrepreneurs who set out to create transformative solutions that will positively impact countless lives. I intend to partner with global investors and pioneers to achieve this, ”he said.
Shankar’s reputation, the rolodex of experience, could lend that Midas touch to any company or entrepreneur. Your new company is likely to be a mission to solve India’s problems through Indian entrepreneurs and startups.
Shankar, as they say in cricket lingo, looks a bit like Sachin Tendulkar or Donald Bradman from the media. Every time he goes out to bat, he is expected to score a century, and he does so many times as he has in the past. In his new innings, Uday Shankar is expected to score a triple century and chances are high that he will end up doing just that. So keep watching the media game.
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