Endemol Shine India elevates Abhishek Rege as CEO

Rege replaces Deepak Dhar who has decided to move on from his position of MD & CEO to pursue a new venture.

After spending 11 years at Endemol Shine India, Deepak Dhar, has decided to step down from his position as managing director and CEO to pursue a new venture. The company's chief operating officer (COO) Abhishek Rege has been appointed as the new CEO. Rege will initially work alongside Dhar during the transition period.

Speaking about his new role Rege, says, “I want to say a big thank you to (Deepak) Dhar for his leadership and support over the years, and wish him the very best in his next venture. These are incredibly exciting times for Endemol Shine India, and the world-class teams we have here. The success of global titles such as 'Big Boss' and 'Fear Factor', alongside our ever-growing slate of drama and film, has propelled the company to the number one position it holds in the Indian market today, and the strength of our IP and talent ideally positions us for further growth."

Having joined Endemol Shine India as the head of commercial and legal in 2008, Rege went on to be promoted to COO in 2012 and has led the company’s business strategy and operations across television, film and online platforms. Prior to Endemol Shine India, Rege held a number of senior positions in the industry, including director of business operations at Viacom 18, and leading roles in scheduling, acquisitions, commercial affairs and compliance at Star India.

Commenting on behalf of the Endemol Shine India Board, Nicola Bamford, CEO of International Operations at Endemol Shine Group, says in a company statement, "(Abhishek) Rege has played a central role in Endemol Shine India’s growth during his time as COO, and we couldn’t ask for a stronger leadership to further build on the company's remarkable successes across non-scripted and scripted genres. (Deepak) Dhar will be leaving with our sincere thanks for all he has done in driving Endemol Shine India to become the market leader that it is today and we wish him every success for the future."

Dhar was appointed creative director of Endemol India in 2006, before being promoted to MD in 2008, and then MD & CEO of Endemol Shine India in 2015.

Speaking about his decision to move on, Dhar says, “My journey at Endemol Shine will always hold a special place in my life... The opportunity to lead Endemol Shine in making its vision a reality in India is something that I will always cherish. It has been a privilege to helm a company with disruption at its very core, and to be able to bring innovation and scale to everything that we sought out to do."