Viacom18 ropes in Raj Nayak as CEO, Colors; AIDEM's fate doubtful

He will report to Haresh Chawla, group CEO, Viacom18.

Viacom18 Media has roped in Raj Nayak as chief executive officer for its general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors. Nayak replaces Rajesh Kamat, chief operating officer, Viacom18, and chief executive officer, Colors, who quit last month. Nayak moves in from Aidem Ventures, of which he was founder and managing director.

As part of his new mandate, Nayak will be responsible for driving the brand and the business towards profitability and growth.

Haresh Chawla, group chief executive officer, Viacom18, says, "Raj will only focus on consolidating Colors' dominance in the GEC space. Given his extensive experience and a proven track record, we're confident of him charting out and leading Colors' next phase of growth."

Nayak says, "I've always admired Colors for the way it changed the landscape of the Indian GEC space within a short span of time. It's got an amazing team of talented people. I look forward to work with them, and continue to create newer benchmarks in the industry."

With Nayak joining Colors, what happens to Aidem? Till now there is no official confirmation on the same, and the fate of the company is still under question. However the picture would get clearer by today.

Prior to launching Aidem, Nayak was chief executive officer, NDTV Media for more than seven years. He has also spent 10 years at the STAR TV group, where he was executive vice-president, sales and marketing, and was responsible for strategy, packaging and marketing of all STAR channels. He also looked after the revenue function at STAR.

For the record, Rajesh Kamat had quit last month to join Chernin Group's CA Media as CEO, India. Kamat had worked with Viacom18 for more than three years and was instrumental in launching Colors and taking it to a leadership position. Apart from Colors, he also identified new growth and opportunity areas for the group and helped in setting up Sun18. Kamat has also played a significant part in extending and establishing Viacom18's footprints in the GEC category.