Viacom18 revamps leadership amid Disney merger

Viacom18 revamps leadership amid Disney merger

This shift follows the merger of Viacom18 and Star India through a joint venture.

Viacom18 Disney

Mumbai: In a recent restructuring move, Kiran Mani, CEO of Viacom18’s digital arm, is poised to spearhead the brand’s digital and sports ventures, while Kevin Vaz, CEO-Broadcast, will take charge of content clusters across TV and digital platforms, as reported by various media outlets.

This organisational shift follows the merger of Viacom18 and Star India through a joint venture announced on 28 February, which was initiated by Reliance Industries in collaboration with Disney. According to internal communications, Mani will extend his leadership to include Viacom18’s linear sports channels alongside his role as CEO of the digital division. With a background of 13 years at Google before joining Viacom18 last year, Mani will now oversee Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayraj, within this new organisational structure.

Kevin Vaz, who joined Viacom18 in July last year following his departure from Disney Star in April, is also a key figure in this leadership transition. He will take on responsibility for the entire content business. Both Mani and Vaz will function as Co-CEOs within the media company.

In tandem with these changes, Reliance and its affiliates will hold a 63.16 per cent stake in the joint venture, while Disney will maintain a 36.84 per cent stake, as per the terms of the deal. This consolidation will position the nation’s leading media company to operate two streaming services and approximately 120 television channels.