MUMBAI: The SARS CoV2 (COVID-19) virus is leaving its impact on even the big players of the media and entertainment industry; Disney Star India, for instance. The Indian broadcasting and streaming megalith is going in for cost reductions, what with the IPL being postponed indefinitely, and TV originals productions being stopped.

Speaking at an UpGrad webinar, The Walt Disney Company APAC chairman and Star and Disney India president Uday Shankar said, “We have voluntarily rolled out a programme for senior executives to take salary cuts. We don’t need to, to be honest.  We decided to do that as an investment for the future. We want to be prepared. And I am happy to say that it has been hugely received. Everybody has very positively reacted to that.”

Sources reveal that the salary cuts that have been put in place vary from 15-20 per cent.

While the top executives are taking pay cuts, Shankar has a message for his company employees. “We had a town hall meeting and I said that this is the time we start investing in the next cycle and work towards that. In one or two years’ time, can we be twice as stronger as we were when the crisis hit us?”

 Shankar admits that it is important to accept the grim realities of what lies ahead of this pandemic. He expects that the next few quarters will be crucial for everyone to buck up and create a new game plan.

Talking about the near future, Shankar said that it will be ‘fluid and bad’. “We will face second-order challenges such as a reduction in salaries. Some may, unfortunately, lose jobs while businesses may struggle with liquidity,” he said.

Being a practical person, he also warned people to not have high hopes. “I think that all of us should hope for it to get better but we need to be realistically prepared for it to get worse. Do not expect the short term to get better. You may even have to take a reduced income,” he said.