Vipul Nagar to lead Gujarati language business in new JV

Vipul Nagar has been appointed Vice President - Creative for JioStar, the new Joint Venture between Reliance, Viacom18 Media, and The Walt Disney Company. He will be leading the Gujarati language business in his new role, where he will be reporting to Sumanta Bose, Head of Cluster, Entertainment (Star Plus and Bharat, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati).

Nagar has served in a variety of creative and programming roles for a diverse range of companies, and has over 20 years of experience across the field and its different mediums. Previous stints for Nagar have been served at Mirchi Entertainment Network India limited, where he spent nearly 15 years, as well as roles at independent agencies, and “the CEO of his own happiness.” His latest posting was as Head of Content for Colors Rishtey, having been with Viacom 18 Media for a little over three years.

The 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.