MUMBAI: YouTube has hired Shridhar Venkataramana as strategic partner manager for content partnerships, marking a significant coup for the Google-owned video platform in India’s lucrative cricket advertising market.
The appointment sees Venkataramana move from Viacom18 Media, where he spent three years as senior director of cricket brand solutions. He brings deep expertise in cricket monetisation, having previously orchestrated brand partnerships across marquee tournaments including ICC, BCCI and ACC events during his six-and-a-half-year tenure at Star TV network. At Star Sports, he progressed through roles spanning revenue strategy and key account management, developing pricing models for some of cricket’s most valuable properties.
Venkataramana’s career trajectory began at PepsiCo, where he cut his teeth as a management trainee before advancing to area sales manager. His LinkedIn announcement cheekily noted the transition from being “on YouTube” to being “in YouTube.”
The hire underscores YouTube’s ambitions to capture a larger slice of India’s sports advertising pie, particularly as cricket viewership increasingly migrates to digital platforms. With India representing YouTube’s largest market by user base, securing experienced sports media executives has become critical to the platform’s revenue growth strategy.
The appointment, effective August 2025, positions YouTube to better compete with established broadcasters for premium cricket content partnerships and advertising deals in the world’s most cricket-obsessed market.
Leave a Reply