MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company in India has appointed Raju Venkataraman, as vice president and general manager, of the newly named Disney Media Distribution.
Disney Media Distribution (DMD) is the new business name for Disney-ABC International Television – the integrated media distribution arm of the Walt Disney Company.
In his new role, Venkataraman will report to The Walt Disney Company India managing director Mahesh Samat. Together with his team, he will be responsible for the licensing of branded and non-branded content to all platforms including free-to-air, cable and satellite broadcasters, mobile, broadband and VOD platforms. In addition, Venkataraman will also continue in his capacity as vice president of channel distribution for Disney Media Distribution, Asia Pacific and continue to report to Disney Media Distribution Asia Pacific managing director Rob Gilby.
"Raju has been a key contributor in building the reach and relevance of the Disney brand in India. His strengths in critical functions such as finance, sales and business operations across the breadth of our business will help drive synergies between program and channel distribution to further enhance the reach of our popular international and local content across multiple platforms," said Samat.
Gilby added, "Raju’s expanded role will enable Disney to leverage his expertise to rapidly grow our business with existing and new media distribution partners in India, while tapping into exciting new opportunities to make the Disney Channels network available to families and kids across platforms and markets in Asia Pacific."
"I am excited to lead the Disney Media Distribution team as we work towards creating a Disney generation in India. We are committed to take Disney’s vast and compelling portfolio of stories to as many Indian kids and families as possible," said Venkataraman.
Venkataraman will oversee the team in India, which comprises Disney Media Distribution associate director program distribution Manju Nair and director, channel distribution India and South Asia Venkat Ramana. Nair will be responsible for strategically developing and managing the content distribution business in India whereas, Ramana will be in charge of increasing the reach and revenue of Disney network of channels, through distribution on multiple platforms, across India and South Asia.
Previously, Venkataraman was in charge of Business Operations for Disney Channel in South East Asia prior to taking up the Channel Distribution mandate in June, 2008.
