The Walt Disney Company on Wednesday named Okay Madhavan because the president of The Walt Disney Company India and Star India with instant impact.
The transfer comes following the departure of Uday Shankar who had stepped down final yr.
In his new function, Madhavan will drive the technique and progress of the media large in India, with accountability for the Disney, Star and Hotstar companies and operations spanning throughout leisure, sports activities and regional channels, and direct-to-consumer, the corporate mentioned in an announcement.
This contains oversight of channel distribution and promoting gross sales, in addition to a thriving native content material manufacturing enterprise which presently is answerable for the creation of 18,000 hours of unique content material throughout fiction, non-fiction, sports activities, and flicks in eight languages, it mentioned.
“For the past several months, I have had the pleasure of working directly with KM and have seen firsthand how he has adeptly managed our India business, which has been and will continue to be critical to our global and regional strategy,” mentioned Rebecca Campbell, Chairman – International Operations and Direct-to-Consumer at The Walt Disney Company.
Speaking about his election, Madhavan mentioned, “I am very proud to have the opportunity to lead the incredibly talented and passionate team we have in India, and to further build upon our strong portfolio of channels and high-quality programming that is a favorite with viewers across the region.”
“We have an exciting journey ahead of us. I am committed to continuing to move our business forward, working more closely together with colleagues across Disney to enhance our global and regional offerings,” he added.
Madhavan joined Star India in 2009 as its South Head and underneath him, the corporate constructed a thriving regional leisure portfolio. Previously, he was the driving pressure behind Asianet’s progress in Malayalam with greater than 50 per cent of the market share, serving as MD and CEO in 2000-2008.
Since 2019, he served as nation supervisor of Star and Disney India, overseeing the corporate’s tv and studios enterprise in India.
Prior to his media profession, he was within the banking and company finance sector.
Madhavan additionally presently serves as president of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and chairman of the National Committee of Media and Entertainment at CII (Confederation of Indian Industry).
