Anil Jayaraj, the CEO of sports at Viacom18, has resigned after nearly three years. Notably, this development occurs as the Reliance Industries-backed company is in the process of merging with Walt Disney’s Star India.
During his tenure, Jayaraj significantly expanded Viacom18’s sports business on both TV and digital platforms, including Sports18 and JioCinema. Under his leadership, Viacom18 secured major properties such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) digital rights, BCCI media rights, Women’s Premier League (WPL), and the rights to the 2024 Olympics.
Before joining Viacom18, Jayaraj was the head of ad sales at Disney Star’s sports network, Star Sports, where he developed monetization plans for seven IPL seasons. The IPL is the most significant media property in India in terms of both popularity and revenue. Earlier in his career, Jayaraj served as the chief marketing officer at Pidilite and held senior marketing positions at BP and Castrol over a span of almost 27 years
