Viacom18 Shuffles Top Management: Sharma as Content Chief, Nayak Heads Revenue, Jaipuria and Andhare Expand Roles
Viacom18 has unveiled a restructuring of its leadership team, a strategic move designed to unify its expanding offerings. This initiative aims to boost the company’s overall performance by emphasizing innovative content development and fostering collaboration among its various brands.
Manisha Sharma has been promoted to Chief Content Officer for Hindi Mass Entertainment. In this new role, she will oversee content for the entire sector, including COLORS and Rishtey.
For the first time, Viacom18 has brought together all network revenue streams under the guidance of Raj Nayak, the Chief Operating Officer.
Nina Elavia Jaipuria, previously known for leading Viacom18’s kids’ entertainment sector to a leading position in India, will now be the Head of the Hindi and Kids TV Network. Her responsibilities have widened to oversee Kids and Hindi Mass Entertainment channels.
As head of the Regional TV Network, Ravish Kumar will head the company’s expansion into various regional entertainment markets, spanning multiple languages and genres.
Ferzad Palia will maintain his leadership over the network’s initiatives in the Youth, Music, and English entertainment sectors, focusing on creating content and experiences that resonate with Viacom18’s youth demographic.
Ajit Andhare is expanding his role to Chief Operating Officer of Viacom18 Studios, where he will guide Viacom18 Motion Pictures into new ventures in national and regional cinema and develop Tipping Point into a recognized digital content production brand.
Saugato Bhowmik will continue to head Integrated Network Solutions, promoting homegrown intellectual properties in live entertainment and managing the licensing operations within Viacom18 Consumer Products.
Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and Managing Director Designate of Viacom18 elaborated on the strategic move, stating, “The first decade of Viacom18 marked the hyper-growth phase for us with 50X growth in topline. In order to make Viacom18 future-ready and dial up growth across different lines of business, it is imperative to drive synergies, leverage scale, and build content capabilities across screens. As we step into our next phase, it is important that we shape an organizational structure that allows us to retain the garage-nimbleness that got us here while enabling Viacom18’s independent business lines to leverage the synergies that consolidation brings. Integrating our revenues and building content engines to cater to multiple screens across India, under the above leaders, is an important step towards a forward-looking organization.”
All executives will report to Sudhanshu Vats. These management changes are effective immediately.
Ragul Thangavel
With over nine years of diverse professional experience, Ragul has made significant contributions across various domains, including Media Operations, OTT Technologies, Video Production, Ecommerce, and Social Media.
Holding an Engineering degree, Ragul's career took an unconventional turn when he discovered his passion for writing, leading him to begin his journey as a content writer.
His career has been exclusively dedicated to the growth and development of startups, where he has played a pivotal role. His unique blend of technical knowledge and creative prowess has enabled him to drive innovation and success in every venture he has been a part of.