Arnab Deb to lead business planning for JioStar’s Entertainment cluster

Deb will be reporting to Sumanta Bose, Head of Cluster, Entertainment (Star Plus and Bharat, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati)

by e4m Staff
Published: Nov 15, 2024 12:49 PM | 2 min read

Arnab Deb has been roped into lead business planning for the entertainment cluster at JioStar, the newly announced entity between Reliance Industries Limited, Viacom18 Media, and The Walt Disney Company.

Deb will be reporting to Sumanta Bose, Head of Cluster, Entertainment (Star Plus and Bharat, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati).

Deb’s last role was as Strategy and Analytics Head – TV (Star Plus/Bengali Cluster) and Digital (Hotstar Specials – Hindi) at Disney Star, where he was with the organization for 10 years in a variety of roles. He has previously worked at the likes of Deloitte, Boston Dynamics, Price Waterhouse Cooper, and other storied financial institutions and is an alumnus of IIT, Kharagpur.

The JV is poised to reshape India's media and entertainment landscape. This significant merger, approved by the NCLT Mumbai, the Competition Commission of India, and other global regulatory authorities, unites Viacom18's and JioCinema's media assets with Star India, creating a media conglomerate valued at approximately Rs 70,352 crore (US$8.5 billion). RIL has further invested Rs 11,500 crore (US$1.4 billion) in the JV to bolster its growth.

RIL, as the majority shareholder with a 56% stake, leads the JV. Disney holds 36.84%, while Viacom18 contributes 46.82%. This strategic alliance brings together some of India's most beloved entertainment brands, including Star, Colors, JioCinema, and Hotstar, under a single entity. The newly formed media powerhouse will operate over 100 TV channels, produce over 30,000 hours of content annually, and cater to a combined digital subscriber base exceeding 50 million.