MPW 2022: Viacom18 CEO Jyoti Deshpande has a firm belief in the power of synergies

Navigating through Reliance’s multi-pronged media businesses could leave most people running for the hills. There’s the content arm Jio Studios; distribution business Viacom18 that includes 59 channels, two OTT platforms, movie & digital content production and distribution vertical Viacom18 Studios, experiential entertainment Integrated Network Solutions and merchandising arm Viacom18 Consumer Products; and the platforms business of Jio mobility and fibre-to-home.

But not Jyoti Deshpande, part of the BT Most Powerful Women in Business 2022 list. The Viacom18 CEO revels in it. In fact, she calls it one of her biggest strengths—“building synergies across businesses and connecting the dots”.

It’s a Herculean task by her own admission, but the vision is to tap into the group’s end-to-end presence and build Viacom18 into India’s largest and widely used digital ecosystem for family entertainment. The group has also bagged the eyeball magnets of Men’s and Women’s Cricket IPL digital streaming rights for the 2023-27 cycle.

Her biggest challenge has been to change the leadership’s mindset into thinking consumer-first and not platform-first, and that digital will not cannibalise TV.

But thanks to the extra shot of “can-do” spirit she seems to carry around in her pocket, supplied by her late father, no challenge seems too big.