Uday Shankar receives Lifetime Achievement Award at FICCI FRAMES 2026

Uday Shankar, Vice Chairman of JioStar and one of the most influential figures in India's media and entertainment industry, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at FICCI FRAMES in Mumbai, recognising his contribution across news, television, sports and streaming.

Accepting the honour, Shankar reflected on a career spent entirely in media and joked about what receiving a lifetime achievement award might suggest.

"It's a humbling moment and a real honour. And I think it's also a not so subtle suggestion that my time is over. The younger generation has taken over the industry. You're full of new ideas, innovation and challenges that you can deal with. And probably some of us will be short on breath to deal with those. However, I can't give you any guarantee that I'm stepping away, because there is nothing else I know,” Shankar said. 

“The media has been my life. Ever since I became an adult, media is the only thing that I have done. And if I continue to be a media practitioner today, it's not because I have the arrogance to think that I have the ability to contribute more than any of you. I also don't think that I'm so important that I should be around. It's just that this is all I can do. This is all I have ever done," he added.

His journey through the industry, however, began far from the scale and complexity of the media businesses he leads today.

Shankar began his career as a political correspondent with The Times of India in Patna before moving into television and becoming part of the founding team behind Aaj Tak, India's first 24-hour Hindi news channel.

He later became CEO of Star India, where he led the network's expansion across regional markets and strengthened its entertainment and sports businesses. Under his leadership, Star expanded its reach to more than 700 million viewers and acquired the global broadcasting and digital rights to the Indian Premier League for ₹16,347 crore. Star also launched Hotstar during his tenure, which went on to become central to the company's digital strategy.

Following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, Shankar became President of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and Chairman of Star and Disney India, subsequently overseeing the launch of Disney+ Hotstar in India in 2020.

After stepping away from Disney in 2020, Shankar co-founded Bodhi Tree Systems with James Murdoch in 2021, backed by the Qatar Investment Authority. Bodhi Tree invested in Reliance's Viacom18 in 2022, supporting the expansion of JioCinema.

In February 2024, Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Company announced the combination of Viacom18 and Star India into an $8.5-billion joint venture. The resulting JioStar brought together two of India's largest television and digital businesses, with Nita Ambani as Chairperson and Shankar as Vice Chairman. His current remit spans television, streaming, sports and broadcast.

Shankar has also held several industry leadership positions, including President of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and President of FICCI. His recognition over the years has included the Forbes India Leadership Award for Best CEO (MNC) in 2015, a place on India Today's 2019 list of the 50 Most Powerful People in India, and honours from the Impact and e4m group for his contribution to the media industry.

The FICCI FRAMES Lifetime Achievement Award recognises Shankar's contribution across several major shifts in Indian media, from 24-hour television news and the expansion of satellite TV to sports broadcasting, streaming and the emergence of large integrated media businesses.