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Tag: Disney Star

  • IPL’s surging IPL valuation slides back as gambling ban and media merger collide

    IPL’s surging IPL valuation slides back as gambling ban and media merger collide

    MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League, the commercial behemoth that has redefined cricket economics, is experiencing something unprecedented: contraction. After years of relentless upward momentum, the IPL’s valuation has plummeted to Rs 76,100 crore in 2025—a staggering Rs 16,400 crore collapse over two years. The league that once seemed destined to become sport’s most valuable franchise now faces an altogether different reality: the era of exponential growth has ended.

    Two seismic forces have conspired to puncture cricket’s golden goose. First, India’s crackdown on real-money gaming has eviscerated the advertising market, stripping an estimated Rs 1,500–2,000 crore from annual sponsorship revenues. Second, the 2024 merger of Disney Star and Viacom18 into JioStar eliminated the competitive media rights bidding war that had inflated valuations for over a decade. Together, these shocks have shattered the financial architecture upon which the IPL’s boom was built.

    Fantasy and gaming platforms were the IPL’s most profligate sponsors, lavishing Rs 1,500–2,000 crore annually across league, franchise, and broadcaster deals. Dream11’s Rs 358 crore national jersey sponsorship exemplified this era: premium pricing underpinned by what amounted to speculative betting cash. Then the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act descended like a guillotine. The gaming sponsors evaporated overnight, leaving franchises scrambling to replace lost revenue with comparatively cheaper deals from fast-moving consumer goods, banking, and electric vehicle makers.

    The vacuum revealed an uncomfortable truth: gaming sponsorship wasn’t additional revenue flowing into cricket’s ecosystem. It was unsustainable froth, inflating numbers on spreadsheets rather than building durable commercial value. When it disappeared, so did the illusion of inexhaustible growth.

    For years, competing broadcasters—Star Sports, Sony, Amazon, others—bid ferociously for IPL rights, each convinced that exclusive access to India’s cricket audience justified premium prices. In 2023, with two strong bidders and whispers of global tech giants entering the fray, valuations soared to Rs 92,500 crore. But the promised tech invasion never materialised. Netflix, Amazon, and Apple pivoted away from sports streaming. Disney and Viacom18 merged, eliminating one bidder entirely. The competitive tension that had driven rights auctions simply evaporated.

    D&P Advisory managing partner Santosh N summarised the revised reality: media rights will no longer deliver the 40–50 per cent appreciation once confidently projected. The IPL’s “fundamentals remain strong,” he insisted, but “the pricing environment will remain under pressure.” Translation: viewers will watch, advertising inventory will sell, but sponsors will pay less.

    The Women’s Premier League, still in its formative years, has already buckled. Its ecosystem value fell 5.6 per cent to Rs 1,275 crore in a single year. Unlike the IPL’s entrenched commercial machinery, the WPL lacks pricing resilience. Dream11’s sponsorship withdrawal and the gaming ban have left the BCCI scrambling to secure title sponsors before the next season—a predicament that would have been unthinkable two years ago.

    Amidst the financial carnage, audience enthusiasm remains robust. The 2025 IPL season crossed a billion cumulative viewers, with digital viewership surpassing television for the first time. JioStar recorded 1.19 billion unique viewers and 514 billion minutes watched. Stadium attendance remained strong; travel searches spiked across Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Lucknow during matches. In short, Indians remain obsessed with cricket. They’re simply less willing—or able—to pay premium prices for the privilege.

    The road forward demands what the boom years never required: structural innovation. Subscription bundles, regional packages, commerce integrations, and renewed competitive tension from global streaming platforms must replace the twin engines of gaming sponsorship and auction-driven bidding wars. 

    If they don’t materialise, the IPL faces not terminal decline but permanent diminishment: a mature, cash-generative business rather than the exponential growth machine it once promised to be. For a league built on the premise that tomorrow would always dwarf today, that’s a bitter recalibration indeed.
     

  • Goquest stars in Africa with JioStar’s exclusive content distribution deal

    Goquest stars in Africa with JioStar’s exclusive content distribution deal

    MUMBAI: When it comes to Africa, Goquest Media clearly has the Midas touch and now it’s shining brighter with JioStar. The global independent distributor has bagged the exclusive rights to distribute JioStar’s linear programming across the African continent, cementing its reputation as the go-to bridge between Indian content powerhouses and African audiences.

    The move isn’t Goquest’s first rodeo. The company previously partnered with Disney Star as its sole distributor in Africa, a collaboration that raised the bar for taking premium Indian entertainment global. With JioStar following suit, the mandate marks another milestone in Goquest’s growing dominance of the African broadcast market.

    “Africa has long been a core market for us,” said Goquest Media managing director Vivek Lath. “For leading global players to bypass building internal sales teams and instead rely fully on Goquest is the strongest endorsement of our capability. We are excited to expand JioStar’s footprint across Africa and continue building bridges between world-class content and audiences who deeply resonate with it.”

    For JioStar, Africa is not just a market, but a priority growth frontier. With two bespoke channels already in place, one in English and the other in isiZulu, the broadcaster has steadily carved out a cultural connection with audiences. A company spokesperson noted, “Our channel brands, shows and characters are household names. By appointing Goquest as our exclusive distributor, we ensure our content portfolio is scaled with precision and market expertise.”

    From isiZulu soaps to English-language dramas, the partnership underscores a larger truth in Africa, Indian entertainment isn’t just imported, it’s embraced. And with Goquest at the helm, JioStar looks set to script its next big chapter on the continent.
     

  • Anuja Trivedi named chief strategy and marketing officer as Shemaroo eyes next phase

    Anuja Trivedi named chief strategy and marketing officer as Shemaroo eyes next phase

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has expanded the remit of Anuja Trivedi, elevating her to chief strategy and marketing officer (CSMO). In addition to leading marketing, she will now head the central strategy team, cementing the company’s sharper focus on long-term growth, integrated brand positioning and closer consumer alignment.

    Since joining as chief marketing officer in 2023, Trivedi has driven brand growth and boosted visibility for Shemaroo’s TV, OTT and digital platforms. In her expanded role, she will spearhead strategic initiatives and work with cross-functional leaders to unlock synergies across the group’s diverse business verticals.

    She brings broad experience spanning strategy, revenue and content, with stints at Disney Star, World Gold Council (WGC), McKinsey & Company, Morgan Stanley and PwC. At Disney Star, she shaped content strategy for TV and digital, driving Disney+ Hotstar subscriptions and improving TV market share in key genres.

    “Anuja’s role expansion comes at a time when we are sharpening our strategic priorities to stay ahead in an evolving media and entertainment ecosystem,” said chief executive of Shemaroo, Hiren Gada. “Her deep understanding of consumer behavior, market dynamics, and business transformation will be instrumental as we move into our next phase of growth.”

    Chief operating officer of Shemaroo, Arghya Chakravarty added, “Over the last two years, Anuja has been instrumental in shaping Shemaroo’s brand story. Her expanded role reflects our belief in her ability to bridge strategy with execution, drive cross-functional alignment, and keep the consumer at the center of all decisions.”

    With Trivedi’s new mandate, the brand is amplifying its bet on strategy-led brand building and future-ready planning as it caters to the changing tastes of Indian and global audiences.

  • Pavan Kumar Allada to lead corporate strategy at Sun TV Network

    Pavan Kumar Allada to lead corporate strategy at Sun TV Network

    CHENNAI: Sun TV network has appointed Pavan Kumar Allada as head of corporate strategy, strengthening its leadership bench at a time when the southern broadcaster is sharpening its digital and growth ambitions.

    Allada joins from Disney Star, where he spent over ten years in key strategy roles at Star Sports. His remit spanned business planning, consumer insights, acquisitions, scheduling and partnerships. Most recently, he served as senior manager for content and acquisition strategy, consumer insights and scheduling, shaping programming and growth decisions for the network’s sports business.

    Earlier roles at Star Sports included business strategy and sales revenue planning, giving him a front-row seat to India’s booming sports broadcasting market.

    An MBA in marketing and strategy from IIM Lucknow and a BTech from IIT Madras, Allada also co-founded an entrepreneurial food venture, Gossip N Bite, early in his career.

    At Sun TV network, he will be responsible for driving corporate strategy, business growth initiatives and acquisition plays, while embedding consumer-first thinking into the company’s long-term plans. The move underscores Sun’s intent to fortify its position not just as a dominant regional broadcaster, but also as a player navigating the shifting media and digital consumption landscape.

  • Nikita Aneja joins Netflix talent team

    Nikita Aneja joins Netflix talent team

    MUMBAI:  Nikita Aneja has announced on Linkedin that she is joining Netflix’s talent team as an HR business partner, effective July 2025. Aneja shared her “excitement” about the move, noting her long-standing admiration for Netflix’s innovative approach to work culture.

    Prior to her move to the streaming behemoth,  Aneja served as lead – HR business partner for digital biz & sports monetisation at JioHotstar for nine months. Before that, she was the head of HR at Viacom18 Sports for three years.

    Her extensive career in human resources also includes a three-year, three-month stint as a senior human resources business partner at Disney Star. Aneja also spent over three years at Edelweiss Financial Services, where she held roles as a human resources business partner and manager for talent management, campus relations, and strategic HR. Her early career saw her as lead – campus recruitment & employer branding at Tata Motors and assistant manager, corporate HR at Godrej Industries Ltd.

    Aneja holds an MBA in human resources management from the Goa Institute of Management (GIM), a management development programme qualification from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, and a bachelor of business administration from Jai Hind College Entrepreneurship Summit. Her appointment is set to bolster Netflix’s talent strategies in the region.

  • Ketan K Bharati joins The House of Abhinandan Lodha to lead media

    Ketan K Bharati joins The House of Abhinandan Lodha to lead media

    MUMBAI: Ketan K Bharati, the marketing maverick who has shaped campaigns across telecom, FMCG, tech, and media giants, has now planted his flag at The House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL) as head – media strategy & performance marketing.

    With a career spanning nearly two decades and marquee brands like Truecaller, Reckitt, Vodafone, Disney Star, and GroupM in his rearview mirror, Bharati’s next chapter promises to blend data muscle, storytelling flair, and go-to-market wizardry for one of India’s most ambitious real estate disruptors.

    Bharati, was most recently VP – global marketing ops at Truecaller, where he steered GTM rollouts, global launches, and even lit up Times Square.

    Backed by stints managing Rs 500 crore media portfolios, landing Gold at Spikes Asia, and anchoring revenue surges at Fox International and Reckitt, Bharati is no stranger to performance-led growth. His Vodafone days saw him turn cricket carnivals into brand goldmines with the IPL and World Cup. At GroupM, he cracked efficiency gains for brands like Dove and PepsiCo with data-first media buying.

    At HoABL, he’s expected to fuse full-funnel performance with digital-first thinking, supporting the brand’s audacious land-tokenisation push and national expansion.

    In a world where land is being reimagined as a lifestyle asset, HoABL’s latest hire signals it’s not just playing the game. It’s rewriting the script.

  • Shaurya Sharma tunes Into Zee TV as new marketing head

    Shaurya Sharma tunes Into Zee TV as new marketing head

    MUMBAI: From hyperlocal deliveries to high-decibel dramas, Shaurya Sharma is making a channel change that’s set to shake things up. The marketing maven has officially joined Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd as head of marketing for Zee TV (vice president for marketing), bringing with him a powerhouse portfolio that spans Disney-Star, Sun TV Network, Pernod Ricard, and more. With this move, Sharma takes charge of one of India’s most iconic general entertainment channels at a time when content consumption and audience loyalty is shifting faster than TRP charts.

    Armed with more than a decade of cross-category experience from liquor to logistics to linear TV Sharma’s trajectory is defined by versatility and results. Most recently, he served as Cluster marketing head for Sun Neo, Sun Marathi, and Sun Bangla at Sun TV Network, leading communication planning, social media strategy, and content marketing across diverse audience bases.

    Prior to that, he helmed marketing at Shadowfax, where he not only curated the brand’s voice but also launched India’s first ad-film on delivery jobs featuring Aparshakti Khurana and Supriya Shukla, reducing CPO by 15 per cent with his loyalty-building initiatives.

    His Disney-Star stint was equally action-packed, leading digital marketing for brands like Star Bharat and managing subscription strategy for the network’s vast distribution footprint.

    From boosting NPS scores in hyperlocal delivery to driving channel loyalty in competitive regional markets, Sharma’s work reflects a razor-sharp focus on brand resonance and consumer behaviour, both essentials in the ever-evolving GEC space.

    With Zee Tv now under his marketing stewardship, the small screen is likely to see big moves. And if history is any clue, Sharma’s campaigns won’t just sell shows, they’ll start conversations.

  • Sanjog Gupta pitches JioStar’s mega play: one fan, one individual feed, infinite screens

    Sanjog Gupta pitches JioStar’s mega play: one fan, one individual feed, infinite screens

    MUMBAI: JioStar chief executive of sports and live experiences Sanjog Gupta knows how to play it well. He took the SVG India Summit stage on 5 May and delivered a fiery address that was part state-of-play, part future manifesto, and full of pride. This was despite him recovering from a bout of flu. 

    From JioStar’s record-breaking cricket broadcasts to the turbocharged rise of JioHotstar, Gupta dropped numbers and punchlines in equal measure.

    “Since the IPL began, we’ve added three  million pay TV homes and scaled to 280 million digital subscribers,” he said. “That’s not a curve; that’s a rocket.”

    A year ago, Disney Star and Viacom18 were at each other’s throats. Today, they’re joined at the hip in JioStar—a media juggernaut Gupta calls the marriage of “Star’s creativity and Jio’s connectivity.”

    In under 90 days, JioHotstar was born, merging two massive platforms with 250 million monthly users each. Since then, it’s broken just about every sports viewership record across both TV and OTT, from Test series highs to the biggest-ever WPL and IPL starts.

    But this isn’t just about cricket. Gupta unveiled JioStar’s new vertical—live experiences—which aims to blend collective fan energy with next-gen storytelling and interactivity. “We don’t want to just serve today—we want to shape tomorrow,” he declared.

    He outlined JioStar’s four commandments for partners:

    1. Think consumer, night and day
    2. Be bold, nimble, and humble
    3. Chase creativity, not just ideas
    4. Execute relentlessly

    But the mic-drop moment came when Gupta demoed MaxView 2.0—a souped-up, AI-powered vertical viewing experience designed for mobile fans. Swipe up for bite-sized moments. Swipe left for alternate angles and HeroCam views. Tap once and you’re back in the live game.

    “Screens are getting smaller, but the experience is getting bigger,” he quipped. “One taxi driver watches it at red lights. One guy told me he watches in the office without anyone noticing. That’s what we call stealth sports.”

    Since MaxView’s rollout, JioHotstar has clocked 25 per cent higher engagement from users on mobile. The mission now?

    One fan, many feeds—a world where each viewer gets a bespoke experience tailored to their individual moods, moments and devices.

    As Gupta put it: “Not many fans as one, but one fan as many.”

    Clearly, that should sweep fans all the way to the boundary – with lots of glee.

  • Rajeswaran M to lead the grand launch of Skyplay IPTV

    Rajeswaran M to lead the grand launch of Skyplay IPTV

    MUMBAI:  Rajeswaran M, director at Skyplay IPTV, has announced its grand launch (set to take place on 13 February)  a next-generation digital entertainment platform offering a triple-play package of broadband, IPTV, and OTT services.
    With over two decades of experience in sales, business development, and corporate strategy within the broadcast and telecom industries, Rajeswaran brings extensive expertise to the platform’s market expansion and strategic growth.

    Before taking on his current role, he served as senior manager – affiliate sales at Disney Star, where he played a key role in revenue growth, market penetration, and content distribution strategies. Over an 11-year tenure, he held leadership positions including assistant vice president and regional manager, overseeing large-scale sales and distribution operations across south, central, and western India.

    His career also includes key leadership roles at ESPN Star Sports, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Castrol India, Britannia Industries, and CavinKare, where he managed sales operations, revenue growth, content distribution, and strategic business development initiatives.

    At Skyplay IPTV, Rajeswaran will focus on expanding the company’s footprint in India’s growing digital entertainment sector, driving broadband and IPTV penetration, and enhancing customer engagement through innovative content delivery.

    Key Responsibilities at Skyplay TV: 
    * Strategic planning: Driving sales strategies for broadband and IPTV services.
    * Sales team management: Leading and mentoring a high-performance team.
    * Revenue growth: Identifying market opportunities and expanding business reach.
    * Industry partnerships: Strengthening relationships with telecom and ISP stakeholders.

  • Tonic Worldwide appoints Nishant Gopalia as senior vice president, media & martech

    Tonic Worldwide appoints Nishant Gopalia as senior vice president, media & martech

    MUMBAI:  Tonic Worldwide has announced the appointment of Nishant Gopalia as senior vice-president for media & martech.  Gopalia, who brings over 18 years of experience in digital media, marketing, and strategy, joins from Viacom18 Sports, where he served as senior director and lead for digital media.

    At Viacom18, Gopalia spearheaded digital strategies for major sports properties, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), FIFA, and the NBA. He was instrumental in driving user acquisition and retention for the company’s digital platform, JioCinema, through performance marketing campaigns, content innovations, and data-driven decision-making.

    Prior to Viacom18, Gopalia held leadership roles at Tata Communications, Mindshare India, Performics, Disney Star, Wavemaker, Hungama Digital Services, and Dentsu Webchutney. His expertise spans app marketing, social media management, programmatic advertising, performance marketing, and digital content strategy.

    In his new role at Tonic Worldwide, Gopalia will oversee media strategy and marketing technology initiatives, driving innovation and business growth for the agency’s clients. His appointment is expected to bolster Tonic’s capabilities in delivering comprehensive digital solutions.

    Said Gopalia : “I look forward to contributing to its vision of delivering impactful and data-driven digital strategies.”