RIL gets Jagdish Kumar as its media and entertainment head

Prior to this, Kumar was STAR India president - South. In addition to this, he was also in charge of Suvarna, the Kannada general entertainment channel.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the flagship company of the Reliance Group, has roped in Jagdish Kumar as president for its media and entertainment business.

Kumar, who will take charge in early May, will be heading the media and entertainment content for RIL's 4G business.

A source close to the development says, "RIL plans to roll out its 4G business in 2012. Right now, it is building the leadership team brick-by-brick. Kumar will be a part of that team."

Kumar, a qualified chartered accountant, was with STAR TV for over 16 years, in Mumbai and in Hong Kong, in various functional capacities. As part of the senior management team at STAR TV, Kumar participated in many fresh initiatives there such as the launch of KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati) in 2000, the launch of the DTH project in 2004, and acquisition of Asianet in 2009.

Kumar, who was STAR India president - South, before joining RIL, joined the network in 1995 as chief financial officer, and thereafter, held various positions such as executive vice-president -- digital platform group, head of corporate finance, and head of the DTH project.

Prior to joining STAR India, Kumar worked with ITC for eight years, in various roles in finance and internal audit including that of financial controller.

Kumar, who has 25 years of combined work experience in finance and general management has been non-executive director of Hathway Cable and Datacom since November 17, 2008.