MUMBAI: There’s quite a few new names sitting atop the Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation following its 25th annual general meeting held in New Delhi earlier today.
No surprises for guessing, Kevin Vaz who heads JioStar just below Uday Shankar was elected as the president. He is also the chairman of Ficci’s media and entertainment committee. The AGM also saw some newcomers make their way into the highest echelons of the advocacy body, the IBDF board: Prasar Bharati’s Gaurav Dwivedi, MMTV’s Jayant M. Mathew, TV Today’s Aroon Purie, JioStar’s Sumanto Bose, and Kairali TV’s John Brittas.
Other senior folks such as Culver Max Entertainment’s recently appointed CEO Gaurav Banerjee, R. Mahesh Kumar, along with India TV boss Rajat Sharma were elected as vice-presidents. I. Venkat was elected as the treasurer.
The list of some of the board members includes: Rajat Sharma, India TV, I. Venkat, Eenadu TV, Kevin Vaz, JioStar, R. Mahesh Kumar, Sun Network, Gaurav Banerjee, Culver Max, Nachiket Pantvaidya, Bangla Entertainment, Punit Goenka, Zee Media, Ashish Sehgal, Zee Entertainment, Sumanto Bose, JioStar and John Brittas, Kairali TV.
Rajat Sharma said that the IBDF will continue advocating for a regulatory framework that fosters innovation, supports creators, and ensures fair competition. “Together, we will drive the industry toward a sustainable and prosperous future,” he stated.
Kevin Vaz made his first address as the IBDF president highlighting that Indian content can gain international acclaim, further strengthening India’s soft power globally.
“As we increasingly embrace technology to scale up, it is imperative that we democratize content creation so that it is not demographically or geographically limited. While India consumes content from anywhere, driven by the proliferation of 5G, smartphones, connected TVs and better pay TV infrastructure, we must ensure that opportunities to create professional content from locations beyond the current hotspots is a viable future for the industry,” he emphasised. “The media and entertainment industry has a multiplier effect that extends to sectors like sports, creating significant opportunities for growth at scale. To ensure that this growth can be sustainable we need to look at business models rooted in equitable collaborations that foster value creation for all stakeholders across the ecosystem.”
