Dish TV strengthens VZY leadership with Varun Jha as chief business officer

NOIDA: Dish TV India Limited has strengthened the leadership of its digital entertainment platform VZY with the appointment of Varun Jha as chief business officer, underscoring its push to expand beyond its traditional direct-to-home television business.

In his new role, Jha will oversee VZY’s business strategy, including growth, monetisation, partnerships, consumer strategy and new business initiatives, as Dish TV looks to build its non-DTH entertainment portfolio.

VZY is positioned as Dish TV’s connected entertainment ecosystem, combining streaming services, live television and connected viewing experiences across mobile devices and larger screens. The company is betting on the platform to simplify content discovery and viewing as consumers increasingly spread their entertainment across multiple apps and devices.

Jha brings more than 18 years of experience in consumer internet businesses spanning fintech, digital payments, e-commerce, mobility, entertainment and education technology. He was part of the early leadership team at PayU in India, where he helped build its consumer payments business during the early years of the country’s digital payments market.

He later led digital entertainment businesses at Bharti Airtel, overseeing platforms including Wynk Music and Airtel Xstream. His career also includes leadership roles at Snapdeal, Zoomcar and Cuemath, where he worked across business strategy, product, marketing, monetisation and international expansion.

According to Dish TV India Limited chief executive officer and executive director, Manoj Dobhal, building scalable non-DTH revenue streams is a key strategic priority as the company broadens its entertainment business. He said Jha’s mix of start-up and large-scale operating experience makes him well placed to help VZY become an important growth engine for the group.

According to Dish TV India Limited chief strategy officer, Gaurav Goel, consumers today face an increasingly fragmented entertainment landscape across multiple apps, subscriptions and screens. He said VZY aims to build an AI-led platform focused on personalised content discovery and seamless viewing experiences.

According to Varun Jha, the next generation of entertainment platforms will be shaped by discovery, personalisation and simplicity rather than content aggregation alone. He said the company has an opportunity to create a consumer-first digital platform that can become a meaningful new growth driver for the Dish TV group.

Jha holds a management degree from the Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management at IIT Bombay and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Mumbai University. His appointment reflects Dish TV’s broader strategy to diversify its business and strengthen its presence in India’s fast-evolving digital entertainment market.