Kevin Vaz Joins Viacom 18 as CEO of TV Business
As reported by sources close to the situation, veteran media executive Kevin Vaz has formally joined Viacom18 as CEO of its TV division. He was previously the head of Disney Star's entertainment division. His last day at the firm was June 13th. Kevin will be in charge of the company's overall TV business, which includes nearly 38 channels in a variety of genres such as general entertainment, movies, regional, and kids. In addition, he will be in charge of regional content and marketing for the digital business.
According to two people familiar with the situation, Vaz's appointment was announced at a town hall meeting. The town hall happened in the presence of Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani, who joined through video conference, and Uday Shankar, who is now on the board of Viacom18 following Bodhi Tree Systems' stake acquisition in the company.
Sources further state that Jyoti Deshpande, who is the CEO of Viacom18, will transition out of this role to focus exclusively on Jio Studios as its head. Deshpande is also the President of Reliance Industries' Media Business.
Currently, Anil Jayaraj is the CEO of the sports business, while Gourav Rakshit is the COO of the digital business.
One of the sources tracking the developments said that the company intends to rope in a separate CEO for the digital business comprising JioCinema. Viacom18 is merging its streaming platform Voot with JioCinema.