Uday Shankar (born 16 September 1962) is an Indian media executive and former journalist. As of 2021, he was the President of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, and chairman of Star India and

The Walt Disney Company India The Walt Disney Company India Private Limited, known simply as Disney India, is the Indian subsidiary of the Indo Pacific region of the American media and entertainment conglomerate The Walt Disney Company and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharasht ...

Early life

Uday Shankar was born on 16 September 1962 in

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. His father was a civil engineer by profession and wanted to see his son as a civil servant. However, he chose a career of journalist, much to his father's disappointment. Shankar got his early education from his native place. He moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

to pursue his master's degree in Economics at

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

. He tried for the Civil Services Examination conducted by

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission ( ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exam ...

( UPSC) and passed the preliminary and main rounds too. But even though some of his friends were selected, Shankar could not clear the interview. In spite of trying for second time, Shankar got enrolled at Times School of Journalism in Delhi.

Career

Uday Shankar started his career as a political correspondent with ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' at

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

. After a brief stint with ''Times of India'' He came back to Delhi and worked for environmental magazine '' Down to Earth''. Shankar began his career in the TV-News industry at Zee TV as a news producer and rose rapidly. From Zee TV, he moved to Home TV, Sahara Samay,

Aaj Tak ''Aaj Tak'' () is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by TV Today Network, part of the New Delhi-based media conglomerate Living Media group (India Today Group) Aaj Tak HD On 14 December 2018, Aaj Tak launched India's first Hindi h ...

and finally Star News as its chief executive officer (CEO). Later, he was appointed as chairman and CEO of Star India to oversee its entire broadcasting operations. On December 5, 2017, Shankar was appointed as president of 21st Century Fox for Asia. The new role would oversee Fox's television and online video platform business across the region, and the President of Fox Networks Group Asia would report to Shankar. On 13 December 2018,

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

announced that Shankar would lead Disney's Asia Pacific region and be chairman of

Disney India The Walt Disney Company India Private Limited, known simply as Disney India, is the Indian subsidiary of the Indo Pacific region of the American media and entertainment conglomerate The Walt Disney Company and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharasht ...

after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox closes. On 1 April 2019, Shankar, as president Disney Asia Pacific, announced the restructuring of the complete entity of Star India and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. On 8 October 2020, he has stepped down from his current role of President - APAC, The Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International and Chairman Star & Disney India, he will be transitioning out by 31 December 2020. He also serves as the Vice President of

FICCI The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India. History Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman G.D. Birla an ...

. Earlier, he served with the same as the President of the M&E (Media & Entertainment) sector.

Awards

* Mumbai Press Club's RedInk award, 2013 * West Bengal Tele Academy Award, 2014 * Best CEO at Forbes India Leadership Award, 2015

References

External links

Profile
at

Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED), formerly Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI), is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments consisting of Disney's streaming services and overseas media busi ...

Media Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Shankar, Uday 1962 births Living people Indian chief executives Indian journalists Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni Businesspeople from Bihar Journalists from Bihar Fox Broadcasting Company executives News Corporation people Disney executives People from Muzaffarpur