Leading entertainment and broadcast network Disney Star has seen several top and mid-level executives leaving the company, a trend that coincides with the announcement of layoffs at Disney worldwide.
The exits have created a wave of uncertainty within. It is reliably learnt that an international team landed in India to analyse the impact and fix the continuing trend. The flow has however continued, with a more recent casualty being senior executive Kevin Vaz, Head of Network Entertainment channels, after nearly three decades.
Some of the senior exits warrant a second look.
Anil Jayraj, Ad Sales Head of Star Sports, had quit to join as CEO of Viacom18’ sports business in 2021.
In March 2022, Nandini Singh, Channel Head of Star Bharat and Star Pravah, exited from Disney Star after close to 18 years with the broadcaster.
In April 2022, Nitin Bawankule, Head – Ad Sales, Disney Star India, quit to join Amazon Web Services as Director & Head – Digital Native Business – India & South Asia.
In May 2022, Sunil Rayan, President, and Head of Disney+ Hotstar quit.
In September 2022, Nikhil Madhok, EVP & Head of Original Content of Disney+ Hotstar, moved to join Amazon Prime Video as Head of Hindi original content.
Ajit Varghese was onboarded as Head of Network Advertising Sales in January 2023. There have been regular exits at high, mid and junior levels on the sales team as well.
Ambarish Bandyopadhyay, Head of Sports, Disney Star; Vaibhav Goyal, Senior Vice President, Star Sports; and Piyush Goyal, Executive Vice President, National Head, Affiliate Sales, Disney Star, have exited.
At the Sales Director level as well, Gazal, Abhishek Dogra, Arjun Kohli and Vivek Sagar have moved on.
Shalini Poddar, VP & Head of Ad Sales at Disney+ Hotstar, happens to be the latest senior level talent to quit Disney Star to join Apple Services as Country Director.
Industry observers state that the well-oiled machine created during the days of Uday Shankar is getting rattled due to stressful conditions. The decisions of the India management team have been questionable too, that created a sense of internal discomfort. While a portion of the exits can be attributed to layoff fears, the exits in the ad sales team of Star Sports and of top executives like Kevin Vaz were unexpected. It is likely that they have been influenced by changing equations with in the organisation, the Indian broadcasting ecosystem (linear TV viewership and OTT) and the sports entertainment market place (Jio Cinema and IPL).
Disney Star India has just started implementing its layoffs in India. Many overlapping job roles and functionalities involving high cost resources are being identified and eliminated in a paced manner to avoid unrest. This has triggered a fear factor amongst the mid-level executives of the organisation, several of whom spoke with MediaNews4u.com on condition of anonymity.
The developments remind one of the days of Disney UTV a decade ago in which nearly 500 employees were asked to leave with nearly 50 per cent of the business verticals being shut, resulting in downsizing of UTV Software Communications by 90 percent.
Ronnie Screwvala’s successful media conglomerate that scripted a new chapter in the history of Indian media and entertainment was reduced to a few verticals after it was taken over by Disney in 2012 in a deal involving Rs.2,600 crores. The motion picture division which redefined the business and produced over 80 hit movies across various languages is defunct today.
Industry practitioners say that The Walt Disney Company’s culture of compliances restricts the free hand enjoyed by the top executives. Star India’s success under Uday Shankar can be attributed to the decision making power he enjoyed and the trust and support extended by Murdochs. Disney’s practices are comparatively restrictive in nature, say several executives in the know.
In a scenario where Disney Star is facing stiff competition from Viacom18 under Uday Shankar, it could well be a handicap for the team under the leadership of K Madhavan. The Rs. 25,000 crore investment in IPL TV media rights only adds to the pressure situation for the leadership.
Disney Star still has the talent across levels to lead the new order of media and entertainment. What it may need today is the freedom that Uday Shankar enjoyed back in the day and the reassurance that the team has the company’s backing.
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