Mukesh Ambani's JioCinema, which is streaming the Indian Premier League, will infuse 100 movies and TV series to its platform to capitalize on the popularity it gained through cricket broadcasts. The President of media and content business of Reliance, Jyoti Deshpande, said in an interview that the platform is also planning to charge for content. Jyoti Deshpande is also the CEO of Viacom 18, the joint venture between Ambani's Reliance and Paramount. According to reports, in the opening week of IPL, the platform garnered 1.47 billion views. In the interview, she said her company will keep tariffs simple and get "as Indian as it can". Who is Jyoti Deshpande?
Jyoti Deshpande is the CEO of Viacom 18. She was elevated in 2021 and under her, the revenues of the Reliance-controlled company have drastically improved. She has also been the president of the chairman's office for Media Platform and Content since 2018. She is one of the closest confidantes of India's richest man. Deshpande also serves on the boards of Network, Balaji Telefilms and Saavn Media. Over her three decades long career, she has handled almost all the aspects of the business. Before joining Ambani, she was the MD and Group CEO of Eros International since 2009.
She was born and raised in Mumbai. She did her schooling from Mumbai's Seth Chunilal Damodardas Barfiwala High School. She was one of the best students of the school. She did her bachelors in commerce and economics from Mumbai's prestigious Narsee Monjee. She did her MBA from Mumbai's SP Jain college.
She has had her fair share of struggles. As an infant, she battled for life with pneumonia. She got her polio vaccine as a toddler and the very next day, she was unable to walk -- she had contracted polio as a child. Despite polio, she remained positive. As a young girl, she played cricket with local boys. She also became the head girl of her government-aided school.
She collected the fee required for her MBA taking tutions of students from Class 2-12.
She also produced the movie Desi Boyz. Recently, she was named the Co-Chair of the FICCI Media & Entertainment Board, the first woman ever to be on the board.
She loves to meditate, watch movies, cricket, tennis and soccer.
Last financial year, under her, Viacom18 Media recorded a 27 percent revenue growth at Rs 4145.4 crore. The company's net profit for the year jumped to Rs 681.7 crore from Rs 582.8 crore.
