Mukesh Ambani lists his 3 principles to guide Viacom18’s growth

Founded in November 2007 as a 50/50 joint venture operation in India between Viacom Inc and the Network 18 Group, Viacom18 has completed a decade in the country. The group celebrated its anniversary in a grand way in Mumbai on Friday night (November 17, 2017) at the NSCI Dome, which was attended by the who’s who in the media and entertainment industry. 

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Ltd, made a special appearance at the celebrations and in a brief conversation with Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, spoke about his vision for Viacom18 going forward. 

Congratulating the entire Viacom18 family of 1,500 members, Ambani recalled the time when Colors was launched and noted that there was a lot of scepticism in the market regarding whether a third entertainment channel could actually succeed. “Today, where you stand after 10 years, the success is entirely yours,” he said. At the same time Ambani also remembered the founding team of Viacom18, including Raghav and said, “We owe all success to our founders and we should never forget that.” 

Ambani pointed out that it’s been three years now that Viacom18 has been a part of the Reliance Group. He admitted that so far he had been “too obsessed” with Jio. But now he was ready to devote more time to grow the Viacom18 business. “The birthday gift that I am giving you on the 10th Anniversary is that you will get some of my time and support,” Ambani said amid loud cheers from the Viacom18 team. 

He further said, “What we have achieved in Jio is that we have taken India in the last 2 years from No. 155 to No. 1 in the world in mobile data consumption. Last month, on Jio alone video viewing was 200 crore hours and this is just the beginning. The synergies that can come from the talent in all 1,500 of the Viacom18 family and the digital distribution, there is no limit to your growth.” 

Stressing on his belief in the power of the youth, Ambani expressed his pleasure that Vats and the entire Viacom18 leadership team had maintained the average age at 32 years. He mentioned the three principles that have helped him – courage, curiosity and empathy – and urged the young team to contribute to the foundation laid by their predecessors. 

“In the next 10 years, digital and entertainment is going to grow manifolds. This next decade will be the golden period for the entertainment industry and all of you should contribute and learn from this opportunity,” Ambani affirmed. 

He further said, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each one of you. What I tell everybody in the Reliance family is that all our young leaders need to have the courage to dream big; the courage and determination to realise their vision. They also need to have curiosity and always have the ability to learn. You have to learn something new every day. And finally, I believe empathy is required out of the ability to see and understand what others feel.” 

“My view is that collectively the entire Viacom18 team has the responsibility to win the hearts of 1.3 billion Indians. I am sure as you start the journey of the next decade, the Viacom18 family will make us even prouder,” Ambani concluded.

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