Announced last week, the merger of Walt Disney’s Star and Viacom18 has created a company with Rs 26,000 crore ($3.1 billion) in combined revenue for FY24, reaching 750 million viewers through 115 TV channels under the Star and Colors brands. It also includes two of India’s leading streaming platforms, JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. In this exclusive interaction, Shankar discusses the vision for building India’s largest media and entertainment company, the challenges of competing with global tech giants, strategies to address sports business losses, and the future for television that many believe is in an attritional decline.
