MUMBAI: Uday Shankar has been lying low for quite a while, avoiding mixing and sharing his wisdom with journalists – a breed from which he emerged  - as he goes about reshaping a new media and entertainment powerhouse coming out of the merger of Disney Star with Reliance Industries’ Viacom18. 

But the incoming vice-chair took some time out to speak to McKinsey.com. Speaking to the consulting firm's insights section online, Uday, highlighted what drove the merger.

“..India is one of the few markets where television still has reasonably good health, within that, a lot of it is changing. Connected TVs and handheld devices have become very substantial and mainstream,” he said. “You’re competing with global players: Google and Meta. Most of digital-advertising revenue goes to these two companies. So you need to pivot; you need to create a business. We saw an opportunity to leverage our inherent strengths and make that strategic pivot. That’s the primary rationale for the merger.”

He added that the streaming business also requires innovation and disruption with AVoD and SVoD models having limited revenue potential in India. 

“While there are a lot of people today who are willing to pay for content and who are interesting or important to advertisers, there are also a lot of people who are not relevant for either of these models,” explained Uday. “You need to create unique or native monetisation models to create value from that base. Whoever manages to create new revenue streams definitely has an advantage. So I think all these opportunities exist.”

Uday then went on to say he’s learnt from every leader he has worked with, from Rupert, James, Lachlan and Mukesh Ambani who he currently continues to work closely with. 

“The first thing is they’re all very clear about why they’re doing what they’re doing—and that clarity is very helpful,” he elucidated “They all play to win. And they all have a high threshold for failure. They’re patient, and they’re not willing to give up. And then, they all work on trust. They all take their bets on people. And once they trust people, they’re willing to back them up. And I learned that myself. I take my bets on people; I trust them once they earn my trust. And I back them up.”

To read the full interview logon to 
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/uday-shankar-on-indias-media-and-entertainment-evolution#/

Picture courtesy: McKinsey.com's video interview with Uday Shankar