Business News

Anil Jayaraj, the CEO of sports at Viacom18, has called it quits after a near three-year stint. The development comes at a time when the Reliance Industries-backed company is in the midst of a merger with Walt Disney's Star India.Sources privy to the development said that the veteran media executive put in his papers on Monday.An email sent to Viacom18 seeking an official comment remained unanswered until the time of filing this report.As CEO, Jayaraj expanded Viacom18's sports business across TV and digital with platforms like Sports18 and JioCinema.During his stint, Viacom18 acquired marquee properties like the Indian Premier League (IPL) digital rights, the BCCI media rights, the Women's Premier League (WPL), and the Olympics 2024. Viacom18-owned JioCinema's free sports streaming disrupted the sports broadcasting segment and made digital the go-to medium for watching live sports in the country.Prior to Viacom18, Jayaraj was the ad sales head of Disney Star's sports network, Star Sports. Jayaraj has developed the monetisation plan for seven IPLs for Star Sports and Viacom18 combined. IPL is the single biggest media property in India both in terms of popularity and revenue.Before Star Sports, Jayaraj was chief marketing officer at Pidilite. In his career spanning almost 27 years, Jayaraj has also held top marketing positions at BP and Castrol.