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Tag: James Murdoch

  • Major restructuring in Star India; Uday Shankar, chairman & CEO, Sanjay Gupta, MD

    Major restructuring in Star India; Uday Shankar, chairman & CEO, Sanjay Gupta, MD

    MUMBAI: Star India announced a series of leadership changes as part of an organizational shift to strategic business units where Uday Shankar will be chairman and CEO.The current COO Sanjay Gupta has been elevated to Star India’s managing director and K. Madhavan will be managing director-South.

    Both Gupta and Madhavan will continue to report to Shankar. These changes position the organization to meet its future growth ambitions on the back of a decade of rapid growth.

    “Star India consistently sets the standard for innovation and growth in one of the world’s most exciting markets,” said 21st Century Fox chief executive officer James Murdoch. “Uday, Sanjay, Madhavan and the entire Star India team have built a world-class business that has grown at double the industry rate. We are proud of its success and look forward to the next chapter of growth under Uday’s transformational leadership.”

    Star has established empowered business units each with its own CEO reporting to Sanjay Gupta. Amit Chopra appointed as CEO of entertainment, which spans drama and movie channels across national and regional channels in Hindi, English, Bengali and Marathi. While, Sports CEO Nitin Kukreja, which includes a leading portfolio of channels under the Star Sports banner.

    Ajit Mohan is now CEO digital, which oversees Hotstar, Star’s revolutionary digital platform which recently surpassed 50 million downloads and Vijay Singh has also been upped as the CEO of Fox Star Studios, which produces and distributes Bollywood and Regional films.

    Kevin Vaz has been appointed as South CEO and will be reporting to K. Madhavan. The South business unit incorporates all of Star’s business interests in the Southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

    In another first, a pan-India content studio will be set up to drive cutting edge innovation in programming under Gaurav Banerjee who will report into Sanjay Gupta. The corporate centre will continue largely unchanged.

    “I congratulate Sanjay, Madhavan and the CEOs on their elevation. This is a world class team that has powered Star to the No. 1 position in the media and entertainment industry in India. Now, I personally and the entire team are even more dedicated to the cause of using Star’s reach in India to inspire the imaginations of a billion Indians. To do this, we need to continuously innovate and disrupt. We have set ourselves a bold growth agenda and these changes will deepen the leadership bench, unlock entrepreneurial energy and position Star better to deliver on its ambitions,” said Star India chairman & CEO Uday Shankar.

  • Major restructuring in Star India; Uday Shankar, chairman & CEO, Sanjay Gupta, MD

    Major restructuring in Star India; Uday Shankar, chairman & CEO, Sanjay Gupta, MD

    MUMBAI: Star India announced a series of leadership changes as part of an organizational shift to strategic business units where Uday Shankar will be chairman and CEO.The current COO Sanjay Gupta has been elevated to Star India’s managing director and K. Madhavan will be managing director-South.

    Both Gupta and Madhavan will continue to report to Shankar. These changes position the organization to meet its future growth ambitions on the back of a decade of rapid growth.

    “Star India consistently sets the standard for innovation and growth in one of the world’s most exciting markets,” said 21st Century Fox chief executive officer James Murdoch. “Uday, Sanjay, Madhavan and the entire Star India team have built a world-class business that has grown at double the industry rate. We are proud of its success and look forward to the next chapter of growth under Uday’s transformational leadership.”

    Star has established empowered business units each with its own CEO reporting to Sanjay Gupta. Amit Chopra appointed as CEO of entertainment, which spans drama and movie channels across national and regional channels in Hindi, English, Bengali and Marathi. While, Sports CEO Nitin Kukreja, which includes a leading portfolio of channels under the Star Sports banner.

    Ajit Mohan is now CEO digital, which oversees Hotstar, Star’s revolutionary digital platform which recently surpassed 50 million downloads and Vijay Singh has also been upped as the CEO of Fox Star Studios, which produces and distributes Bollywood and Regional films.

    Kevin Vaz has been appointed as South CEO and will be reporting to K. Madhavan. The South business unit incorporates all of Star’s business interests in the Southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

    In another first, a pan-India content studio will be set up to drive cutting edge innovation in programming under Gaurav Banerjee who will report into Sanjay Gupta. The corporate centre will continue largely unchanged.

    “I congratulate Sanjay, Madhavan and the CEOs on their elevation. This is a world class team that has powered Star to the No. 1 position in the media and entertainment industry in India. Now, I personally and the entire team are even more dedicated to the cause of using Star’s reach in India to inspire the imaginations of a billion Indians. To do this, we need to continuously innovate and disrupt. We have set ourselves a bold growth agenda and these changes will deepen the leadership bench, unlock entrepreneurial energy and position Star better to deliver on its ambitions,” said Star India chairman & CEO Uday Shankar.

  • James Murdoch set to take over as Sky chairman again

    James Murdoch set to take over as Sky chairman again

    MUMBAI: Four years after he resigned as chairman of BSkyB, which is now known as Sky Plc, Fox CEO James Murdoch is all set to take over as chairman of the company yet again.

     

    European broadcaster Sky Plc, which is backed by Rupert Murdoch, has named James to the post after Nicholas Ferguson resigned as chairman of Sky.

     

    James had quit BSkyB after News Corp failed to push through a takeover of the broadcaster.

     

    Fox now owns 39 per cent of Sky, which was formerly held by News Corp.

     

    Ferguson decided to step down as chairman and as a director of the company at the end of April after 12 years on the Board. After joining the Board as a non-executive director in 2004, he was appointed as chairman in 2012 and has led the Board during a period of strong growth for the company, including the transaction to bring together the Sky businesses across Europe.

     

    On the other hand, James has been a director of the company since February 2003 and previously served as CEO from November 2003 to 2007 and as chairman from 2007 to 2012.

     

    Martin Gilbert has been appointed as deputy chairman, with Andrew Sukawaty taking over his former role as Sky’s senior independent director.

     

    Ferguson said, “It’s difficult to find the right time to step down from chairing a great company and working with an outstanding Board and management team. I joined the Board 12 years ago, in 2004, meaning that I have been with Sky for nearly half its life. When I became chairman in 2012, I wrote in the Annual Report that I would stay on long enough to ensure continuity. The then virtually new Board is now seasoned and bedded in. We have completed major international acquisitions in Germany and Italy; they are running to plan and we have first-class management in place. Sky continues to grow impressively, to innovate with wonderful products and to serve its customers to the highest standard. So now is the right time for me to step back. I am sure that the company will continue to prosper under the leadership of Jeremy supported by James and the Board.”

     

    Murdoch said, “I would like to thank Nick for his outstanding contribution to the Board over the last decade and more. I am proud to have been asked by the Board to serve as Chairman of Sky, one of the world’s leading pay TV companies. Jeremy and the team at Sky have done an outstanding job in building a dynamic and successful company. As Chairman, I look forward to working with the Board and management as they continue to deliver a great service for Sky’s customers and create value for all shareholders over the years to come.”

     

    Gilbert added, “I would like to give the warmest thanks to Nick for the major contribution he has made to Sky. He has provided valuable leadership as chairman and played a significant part in the company’s progress over many years. I am very pleased that James has agreed to succeed Nick. Having seen first-hand James’s contribution to and passion for Sky, the Board feels he is uniquely qualified to become chairman. I am also pleased that Andrew Sukawaty, with his meaningful experience in public companies and in our industry, has agreed to serve as Sky’s senior independent director.”

  • James Murdoch set to take over as Sky chairman again

    James Murdoch set to take over as Sky chairman again

    MUMBAI: Four years after he resigned as chairman of BSkyB, which is now known as Sky Plc, Fox CEO James Murdoch is all set to take over as chairman of the company yet again.

     

    European broadcaster Sky Plc, which is backed by Rupert Murdoch, has named James to the post after Nicholas Ferguson resigned as chairman of Sky.

     

    James had quit BSkyB after News Corp failed to push through a takeover of the broadcaster.

     

    Fox now owns 39 per cent of Sky, which was formerly held by News Corp.

     

    Ferguson decided to step down as chairman and as a director of the company at the end of April after 12 years on the Board. After joining the Board as a non-executive director in 2004, he was appointed as chairman in 2012 and has led the Board during a period of strong growth for the company, including the transaction to bring together the Sky businesses across Europe.

     

    On the other hand, James has been a director of the company since February 2003 and previously served as CEO from November 2003 to 2007 and as chairman from 2007 to 2012.

     

    Martin Gilbert has been appointed as deputy chairman, with Andrew Sukawaty taking over his former role as Sky’s senior independent director.

     

    Ferguson said, “It’s difficult to find the right time to step down from chairing a great company and working with an outstanding Board and management team. I joined the Board 12 years ago, in 2004, meaning that I have been with Sky for nearly half its life. When I became chairman in 2012, I wrote in the Annual Report that I would stay on long enough to ensure continuity. The then virtually new Board is now seasoned and bedded in. We have completed major international acquisitions in Germany and Italy; they are running to plan and we have first-class management in place. Sky continues to grow impressively, to innovate with wonderful products and to serve its customers to the highest standard. So now is the right time for me to step back. I am sure that the company will continue to prosper under the leadership of Jeremy supported by James and the Board.”

     

    Murdoch said, “I would like to thank Nick for his outstanding contribution to the Board over the last decade and more. I am proud to have been asked by the Board to serve as Chairman of Sky, one of the world’s leading pay TV companies. Jeremy and the team at Sky have done an outstanding job in building a dynamic and successful company. As Chairman, I look forward to working with the Board and management as they continue to deliver a great service for Sky’s customers and create value for all shareholders over the years to come.”

     

    Gilbert added, “I would like to give the warmest thanks to Nick for the major contribution he has made to Sky. He has provided valuable leadership as chairman and played a significant part in the company’s progress over many years. I am very pleased that James has agreed to succeed Nick. Having seen first-hand James’s contribution to and passion for Sky, the Board feels he is uniquely qualified to become chairman. I am also pleased that Andrew Sukawaty, with his meaningful experience in public companies and in our industry, has agreed to serve as Sky’s senior independent director.”

  • Rupert Murdoch’s pay drops 5% in 2015 to $28 million; James’ down 19% at $15 million

    Rupert Murdoch’s pay drops 5% in 2015 to $28 million; James’ down 19% at $15 million

    MUMBAI: In his last year as CEO of 21st Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch took home five per cent less salary in 2015 as compared to 2014. The senior Murdoch was named executive co-chairman of the company in July this year. His pay in the fiscal year ended in June 2015 stood at $27.9 million as opposed to $29.24 million in 2014.

     

    While his base salary was steady at $7.1 million, his stock award fell 18 per cent to $5.15 million. On the other hand, his non-equity plan compensation fell four per cent to $9.77 million. The senior Murdoch also will be pocketing a bonus of $21 million for his contribution in growing the company’s brands and businesses domestically as well as his plans for future growth with continued investments in domestic cable networks and in international markets.

     

    Additionally, 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch’s total pay also saw a decline of almost 19 per cent at $15.05 million in 2015 as compared to $18.7 million in 2014. His salary continued to remain the same at $3 million, whereas his stock awards were down 18 per cent to $5.42 million. His non-equity incentive compensation too declined four per cent to $5.58 million.

     

    James Murdoch, who is slated to received a bonus of $12 million, played an important role during fiscal 2015 in developing the company’s key international businesses and investments. Moreover, the company said that he continues to champion the expansion of the company’s international sports portfolio, particularly with new rights acquisitions at Star Sports in India, positioning the company for greater profitability. Under his leadership, the company continues to expand its digital offerings of its library product and explores opportunities to obtain the digital rights to other key programming and to expand its digital advertising capabilities.

     

    In a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 29 September, the company said that this was due to the decline in stock awards and non-equity incentive compensation.

     

    On the other hand, the company’s deputy chairman Chase Carey, who also served as the company’s COO with James until July, received compensation of $23.22 million for the year ended 30 June, 2015, which was down from $27.9 million in 2014. Carey’s salary remained the same at $4.05 million. Carey, who now serves as the 21st Century Fox’s executive vice chairman, will receive a bonus of $20 million for hisexceptional strategic leadership and management.

     

    21st Century Fox’s proxy filing also mentioned that the company’s annual meeting is scheduled on 12 November in Los Angeles, California.

     

    For the year ended 30 June, 21st Century Fox’s net income dropped 36 per cent to $4.51 billion, while revenues grew 15 per cent to $ 31.9 billion.

     

    21st Century Fox Business Highlights for 2015 are as follows:

     

     

    INDIA

     

    • The company continued its expansion of its international cable business, particularly at Star India. Star Sports’ broadcast of the ICC Cricket World Cup set an all-time viewership record, and the introduction of two new local sports leagues, Kabaddi and Indian Super League (soccer), provided strong ratings and present new opportunities.

     

    • Through Star India’s agreement to acquire the broadcast business of MAA Television Network Limited, the company initiated its expansion into the Telugu TV market.

     

    • The company expanded its non-linear advertising products and services through the launch of Hotstar, a digital video streaming platform in India.

     

     

    INTERNATIONAL

     

    • The company continued to grow its television and cable channel businesses through obtaining and increasing retransmission and affiliate compensation and securing key distribution agreements.

     

    • The company continued to strengthen its core domestic cable business with the growth of its national sports channel Fox Sports 1 by featuring additional sports events including the U.S. Open Golf Championship and Women’s World Cup events, and by growing its third branded FX channel, FXX, by featuring all episodes of The Simpsons and premiering an extensive slate of theatrical motion pictures.

     

    • The company’s filmed entertainment business continued to have leading worldwide box office sales while creating and growing new and existing film franchises such as The Maze Runner, Kingsman and Planet of the Apes.

     

    • The company created new hit series such as Empire and The Last Man on Earth and enhanced its key existing brands including The Simpsons, Family Guy, Modern Family and Homeland. In addition, the company is reinvigorating the broadcast network’s primetime line-up with the successful debuts of Gotham, Last Man on Earth and Empire, which was the number one new show and highest rated broadcast show in the 2014-2015 broadcast season.

     

    • The company expanded its non-linear advertising products and services through the acquisition of true[X], a leading engagement advertising company specializing in advertising formats for on-demand marketing campaigns in the U.S.

     

    • The company returned a significant amount of cash to stockholders through stock repurchases of approximately $5.9 billion during fiscal 2015, a 57 per cent increase over fiscal 2014 levels and through increasing the semi-annual dividend by 20 per cent to $0.15 per Class A and Class B share, resulting in an annual dividend for fiscal 2015 of $0.30 per share or approximately $610 million. In August 2015, the company announced that the Board approved an additional $5 billion authorization to the Company’s stock repurchase program intended to be completed by August 2016.

     

    • The company sold its direct broadcast satellite television (DBS) businesses, Sky Italia and its interest in Sky Deutschland AG (Sky Deutschland), to Sky plc (formerly known as British Sky Broadcasting Group plc) for approximately $8.8 billion, resulting in a gain of approximately $5 billion and creating a pan-European digital television leader.

     

    • The company and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC created Endemol Shine Group, a global multi-platform content provider bringing together the Shine Group, Endemol and Core Media Group.

  • Star eyes $500 million revenue from entertainment & sports by 2018: John Nallen

    Star eyes $500 million revenue from entertainment & sports by 2018: John Nallen

    MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is relying heavily on its subsidiary Star to lead its international growth.

     

    Explaining how Star’s growing entertainment ad revenues makes it a key player in the company’s plans to focus internationally, 21st Century Fox chief financial officer (CFO) John Nallen said, “One of the top priorities, uniquely for us is international. We’ve got a particular focus on growth outside the US. We continue to harness the assets we have in Star, FIC (Fox International Channels) and in Sky but we continue to be opportunistic to the extent we can outside the US.”

     

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, this falls in line with a recent Morgan Stanley report that valued Star TV at $11.2 billion, where $300 million is the network’s gross revenue from entertainment business as of June 2015.

     

    Given the growth rate, Nallen anticipates that number to reach $500 million by 2018. “We feel confident about the $500 million target for 2018,” he said.

     

    It may be recalled that earlier this year, 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch had said that Star India is likely to earn operating income of $1 billion by 2020.

     

    The growth, according to him, is coming from two factors – entertainment and sports. “The first is the continued growth of the entertainment business, which is the hallmark of the Star business. We get 23-24 per cent market share every night. It’s a market that is growing. In the last six months TV ad market grew 21 per cent, we over-indexed because of our strength,” said Nallen.

     

    While entertainment continues to be a source of revenue for Star, its sports section is doing equally well. Seeing the prospects the company had earlier made its biggest sports investment by launching six sports channels with Star, which paid off for the network as “an enormous viewing success.”

     

    Nallen, who was speaking on the company’s business strategy for the next couple of years, at an industry summit, also pointed out on the company’s strong focus on expanding its international reach and growth through Star TV. “Top opportunity continues to be international, led by Star, which clearly is going to lead a lot of our international growth,” he said.

     

    Calling its Indian subsidiary – Star India, an undervalued asset, Nallen pointed out the growth statistic predicted from Star, which rides on the network’s continued success rate in the entertainment section, unlike the parent company’s recent experience of the same in the US.

     

    “Our ad growth in the US is coming from news and sports, and not from entertainment. If you take our total revenue, roughly 30 per cent of it comes from advertising. Two thirds of that advertising total comes from news, sports and international. The place that we are focusing on and the place people feel more vulnerable is entertainment advertising in the US. That’s the rest of the one third left,” Nallen said.

     

    Additionally, Nallen also clarified that Fox has no plans of further incremental investment in Star this year. “Not much more investment (in Star). This year we grew the investment because we extended one of the sports franchises that we started, the local Kabaddi sport that has turned into a phenomenon in India. There is not a massive new incremental investment that we need for Star,” Nallen informed.

  • 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch to speak at Ignition 2015

    21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch to speak at Ignition 2015

    MUMBAI: Ignition 2015: Future of Digital, which is Business Insider’s flagship annual conference, will see 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch as a key speaker.

     

    The conference is scheduled to take place on 8 – 9 December, 2015 in New York City.

     

    Ignition has brought together the best minds in media and technology to share what they see on the horizon. Through unscripted interviews, cutting-edge demos, and insights from industry pioneers, they will highlight key trends to be aware of and what one needs to do to stay ahead.

     

    In his nearly two-decade career with 21st Century Fox, Murdoch has held an impressive succession of leadership roles. He has had direct responsibility for the company’s expansion, strategic transactions, and transformative growth. Under his leadership, the company’s cable and broadcasting networks reach more than 1.8 billion subscribers everyday. Murdoch previously served as co-COO, chairman and CEO for Europe and Asia, and chairman of BSkyB, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia.

     

    Apart from Murdoch, the other key speakers at Ignition 2015 are as follows: Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman & CEO Michael Lynton, Time Warner Inc. chairman & CEO Jeff Bewkes, CBS Corporation president & CEO Leslie Moonves, Comcast chairman & CEO Brian Roberts, BuzzFeed founder & CEO Jonah Peretti, TheStreet.com chairman Jim Cramer, Facebook VP of Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson, Rent the Runway co-founder & CEO Jennifer Hyman, GE chairman & CEO Jeff Immelt, Verizon chairman & CEO Lowell McAdam, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor, Sourcepoint Technologies, Inc. founder & CEO Ben Barokas, Interlude founder & CEO Yoni Bloch, GE executive director, global brand marketing Linda Boff, Breyer Capital founder & CEO Jim Breyer, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins, Sharethrough president Patrick Keane, Getty Images co-founder & chairman Jonathan Klein, Blendle co-founder Alexander Klöpping, CBS Interactive president & CEO Jim Lanzone, RBC Capital Markets Managing director, Internet Mark Mahaney, Piper Jaffray Managing director & Senior Research Analyst Gene Munster, Smarty Pants Chief Brainiac Stephanie Retblatt, Gilt Groupe chairman & founder Kevin Ryan, Blue Apron co-founder & CEO Matthew Salzberg, Taboola founder & CEO Adam Singolda, The New York Times Company president & CEO Mark Thompson, Refinery29 co-founder & co-CEO Philippe von Borries and Roku founder & CEO Anthony Wood.

     

    Additionally, speakers from Business Insider will be editor-in-chief & CEO Henry Blodget, chief correspondent Nicholas Carlson, deputy editor, tech insider Steve Kovach, deputy editor, tech, science, and entertainment Alyson Shontell and executive editor Jay Yarow.

     

    In its sixth year now, Ignition 2015 aims to give a new understanding of the transformations taking place in the digital world. Close to 700 senior executives in technology, media, entertainment, investment, and finance will be discussing innovative ideas.

  • Murdoch scion to take over 21st Century Fox from 1 July

    Murdoch scion to take over 21st Century Fox from 1 July

    MUMBAI: The Board of 21st Century Fox has made a series of senior management changes, which will take effect 1 July, 2015. As was reported by Indiantelevision.com last week, Rupert Murdoch, the company’s founder, chairman and CEO, together with Lachlan Murdoch, currently co-chairman, will become executive co-chairmen.

     

    Additionally, Chase Carey, the company’s deputy chairman, president and COO since 2009, will become the executive vice chairman and serve in that role through 30 June, 2016. James Murdoch, currently co-chief operating officer, will become CEO.

     

    In conjunction with these changes, the company’s corporate functions, and its global television and film operations will now jointly report to Lachlan and James Murdoch.

     

    Rupert Murdoch said, “It has always been our priority to ensure stable, long term leadership for the company, and these appointments achieve that goal. Lachlan and James are each talented and accomplished executives and together, we, as shareholders and partners, will strive to take our company to new levels of growth and opportunity at a time of dynamic change in our industry.”

     

    He added, “I can’t thank Chase Carey enough for his friendship, counsel and leadership over the past decades. He will be actively engaged in supporting Lachlan and James as they step in to their new roles.”

     

    Carey said, “I am grateful to Rupert for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime and truly believe there isn’t a company out there that’s more exciting, with more growth potential, than 21st Century Fox. I look forward to continuing to work with Rupert to support Lachlan and James in their new positions.”

     

    In a joint statement, Lachlan and James Murdoch said, “We are both humbled by the opportunity to lead, with our father and the talented team of executives at 21st Century Fox, this extraordinary company. We are grateful to Chase for being the leader and partner that he has been, and we are both delighted that his wisdom and sure handedness will continue to serve 21st Century Fox. We are also grateful to the Board for providing us the opportunity to lead this great company. Most importantly, we each look forward to working with the entire team of creators, executives, artists and all of our colleagues that make up our global businesses, to steer the company into the future, and to drive continued value for our shareholders.”

     

    21st Century Fox lead director Rod Eddington said, “The Board has long been focused on succession and we’re fortunate to have two very talented executives in Lachlan and James to take this company into the future. Working in tandem with Rupert, we’re confident their partnership and stewardship will give this business real momentum for many years to come. We are also deeply grateful to Chase Carey for his many years of exceptional leadership and his agreement to continue his contributions through his new position.”

  • Rupert Murdoch looks to step down as 21st Century Fox CEO: reports

    Rupert Murdoch looks to step down as 21st Century Fox CEO: reports

    MUMBAI: Octogenarian media baron Rupert Murdoch is all set to resign from his position as 21st Century Fox CEO, handing over the reigns to his son James Murdoch, as per a CNBC Television report.

     

    According to the report, an announcement on the same is expected soon, with no clear date on when the reorganisation would take place. CNBC reports that while Murdoch will continue to be the executive chairman of Fox, his other son Lachlan will take over as executive co-chairman.

     

    In a statement, Fox said, “The matter of succession is on the agenda at our upcoming, regularly scheduled board meeting.” However the company did not elaborate further.

     

    Rupert Murdoch, who through the Murdoch Family Trust controls 39.4 per cent of the voting shares at Fox, is not expected to change much of what he does day to day as chairman of both Fox and News Corp.

     

    It can be recalled that Fox had earlier attempted the acquisition of Time Warner, a deal which many said, would have reshaped the media industry. As per reports, the deal failed after Time Warner declined to discuss the matter with the Fox leadership.

     

    Meanwhile, with the news of Murdoch stepping down, Fox shares were down 0.27 per cent at $32.89, while News Corp shares were little changed at $14.64 in early trading.

  • James Murdoch bets big on Star India; expects $1 billion EBIDTA by 2020

    James Murdoch bets big on Star India; expects $1 billion EBIDTA by 2020

    MUMBAI: The country’s leading broadcaster – Star India is betting big on the future. Star India, which has made a mark in the general entertainment as well as the sports broadcasting space, is looking at turning the company into a billion dollar entity by the turn of the decade, said 21st Century Fox co-chief operating officer James Rupert Murdoch.

     

     “We love the India business. It has now evolved enormously from Hindi entertainment to regional language broadcasting and now we are a national platform. The sports business for us is a new pillar and we are looking at the business in a long-term time frame. And if we keep innovating and investing in putting more creative and innovative content on screen, Star India will become a billion dollar EBIDTA by the turn of the decade,” said Murdoch at the just concluded Asia Pacific Pay-TV Operators Summit 2015 held in Bali.

     

    Addressing the gathering at APOS, Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Media content has a huge role in shaping the sensibilities of the society and this role should not be underestimated.”

     

    Stressing on the role of sports, Shankar added, “I am prejudiced towards aspirational content and cynical about cynical content. This is something we have always kept in mind while creating all of our content and it is the same philosophy that we are bringing to sports as well. Sports has a huge role to play in empowerment, especially in a country like India, where we need to make the society believe that even an uneducated person can aspire to something greater if he is talented in a sport. This is what has worked with Kabaddi in a big way.”

     

    Star has applied the same entertainment business philosophy into sports. “We are creating content with deep local affinity using the audience aggregation power that cricket gave you. Sports broadcasting has been plagued by laziness and lack of innovation, treated merely as a distribution agent of acquired rights, which is what we have tried to change with multiple local leagues. If it is your team that’s playing, even if it is not the best team, you would be deeply passionate about it. Creating a hierarchy of leagues across the country can be huge empowering phenomenon,” opined Shankar.

     

    Speaking about content creation and regionalization, he said, “India is a giant country with varied cultures and tastes. We used Asianet as a beach head for the south and elevated the quality of content dramatically with sharper storytelling, involving the best of the creative fraternity and breaking the caste divide between film and TV. For logistic reasons outsourcing production might make sense, but unless you internalize the core creative skill, you will not be able to sustain success, which is why we have build a robust internal creative team to ensure this.”

     

    Star India’s recently launched video on demand (VOD) platform Hotstar has become a talking point of sorts. “Our objective behind Hotstar was quite simple actually – a lot of audiences were consuming our content on other screens, but we were unhappy with the inability to control their viewing experience. We realised we own all of this IP and so came Hotstar. I do not think that this is a ‘free model.’ We need to keep the consumer at the center while thinking about this and in a market like India, where data costs are still pretty high, the consumer is still paying a lot for the data – so it’s not particularly consumer friendly to have them pay twice, especially at such a nascent stage.”

     

    Shankar is also buoyed by the over-the-top (OTT) services space as it allows for democratisation of creativity. “However this is not the same as saying that anyone can create content,” he said.

     

    He also stressed on the use of big data and analytics by the network. “At Star, we use a lot of data and we value it deeply. However, let’s not become data monkeys. Data helps understands patterns but to understand these patterns and take a leap to what should be created next, will still require creativity. No matter how much data we have, I don’t believe we will be able to automate the definition of the next blockbuster,” concluded Shankar.