Disney Star India chairperson and Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific president Uday Shankar has been elected as the FICCI president–elect for 2020-21, at the body’s 93rd AGM on 11, 12, and 14 December 2020.
With this, another feather adds to his cap within an amazing career span. Shankar will take over from Apollo Hospitals managing director Sangeeta Reddy, becoming the first ever media and entertainment industry executive to lead the national chamber. Prior to this, he was chairman of FICCI’s media & entertainment committee, apart from being president of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF).
Shankar currently leads Disney’s direct-to-consumer business in over 30 countries and has been behind the overwhelming success of Star India in entertainment and sports broadcasting, apart from the streaming service Disney+ Hotstar.
An M. Phil in economic history, Shankar has also been an extremely vocal advocate of the entertainment and broadcasting sector, speaking against regulation which has slowed down the TV ecosystem. He has been at the forefront of landmark initiatives in television broadcasting, such as self-regulation of content and digitisation of the broadcasting sector.