Ajay Vidyasagar joins Google as regional director

He will be based in Singapore and will head YouTube and video solutions at Google in Japan and the Asia-Pacific, including China and India.

Ajay Vidyasagar, who quit Sun TV Network as chief operating officer in February, has joined Google as regional director. Vidyasagar will be based in Singapore.

afaqs! has learnt that Vidyasagar will head YouTube and video solutions at Google in Japan and the Asia-Pacific, including China and India. Vidyasagar has taken up his new role starting May 3. He will report to Shailesh Rao, who is managing director, media and platforms for Japan and the Asia-Pacific.

Vidyasagar joined the Sun TV Network in June 2009, where he was instrumental in increasing the revenue figure by two folds. Prior to Sun TV, he was president, content and new media at STAR India, where he worked for 14 years. He started his stint with STAR India way back in 1996 as part of the Chennai team of the network. He subsequently shifted to Mumbai, where he was part of the company's marketing team before he was made the commercial director of Channel , the network's music channel.

In 2000, when STAR acquired Vijay TV, a Tamil general entertainment channel, Vidyasagar moved down south as head of the group's regional business, where he was appointed general manager, regional channels, STAR India. In 2004, he moved back to Mumbai to head the marketing function of STAR India, as executive vice-president. He was later promoted as president, content and new media, his last designation with the group.

It was during his stint that Star Plus launched the second season of the country's most popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, after a gap of four years. The same year, STAR also came up with its second GEC, STAR One.