Aanchal Maheshwari joins JioStar as head of English content and programming

MUMBAI: From streaming shelves to a new studio floor. Aanchal Maheshwari, a media veteran with over 18 years of experience across media, technology and telecom, has joined JioStar as head of English content and programming, after wrapping up a stint of about six and a half years at Amazon Prime Video.

Maheshwari announced the move on LinkedIn, saying she is excited to be part of building and scaling an ambitious English and international content business, bringing together great stories and compelling content to connect deeply with Indian audiences. “There’s so much to do, and I can’t wait to get started!” she said.

The brief is a big one. India’s audiences have grown used to a wide sweep of international storytelling, and the platforms that curate it well stand to gain the most. Someone who has spent years on the buying and partnering side of the business, and who knows what works on screen, is an obvious fit for the job.

Her career explains why. At Amazon, where she spent 6 years and 5 months, Maheshwari most recently served as head of content partnerships for Prime Video Channels and TVOD, from May 2024 until September 2026. Before that she led partnerships for Amazon Prime Video Channels from January 2022 to May 2024, and handled content acquisition for Hindi movies at Amazon Prime Video from May 2020 to December 2021. In her farewell note, she thanked the leaders who trusted her, her colleagues, the friends she made and the partners she worked with to build and shape the marketplace business across add-on subscriptions and TVOD, which she said will always remain close to her heart.

The Amazon years capped a long run at The Walt Disney Company, where she spent six years. She was head of fashion and consumer products commercialisation from October 2019 to April 2020. Before that she was associate director, content sales, direct to consumer and international (DTCI), from December 2017 to September 2019, leading a team that spearheaded the content and music licensing business for the Indian subcontinent. She was responsible for revenue generation through distribution and licensing of Disney’s global and local content across television and digital platforms.

Earlier at Disney, she worked as senior manager, syndication and Disney media distribution, from December 2015 to November 2017, and as manager, syndication and Disney media distribution, studios, from May 2014 to November 2015. From March 2012 to March 2014, she was manager, marketing and strategic planning, studios, at Disney UTV. That role involved developing the overall marketing strategy for the India theatrical release of all films, from market scanning and consumer insights to competitive benchmarking, campaign monitoring, management of marketing spends and post-release analysis. She also handled the marketing of products from the gaming and Disney Interactive verticals.

Her grounding in telecom is just as deep. At Bharti Airtel, where she spent one year and nine months, she joined through the Bharti Airtel Young Leaders Program (BYLP), which offers an accelerated career track for top talent hired from business schools. She was young leader from June 2010 to February 2012, with cross-functional stints across the telemedia business unit covering broadband, fixed line and IPTV for South India. Her projects included a CSR stint at Satya Bharti School in Madhpur, Punjab, to address low enrolment and high drop-outs, reducing the fault rate for internet leased lines to cut churn among high-value customers, tackling first-bill and second-bill broadband churn, account mapping of the shipping and logistics industry to raise ISD usage and revenue, and a Green Belt project to reduce billing-related calls at the call centre.

She also served as channel manager, telemedia, South, from February to April 2011, voice account manager, enterprise business, mobility, Mumbai, from May to December 2011, and manager, U&R, postpaid, for Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa, from December 2011 to February 2012, where she drove revenues from the postpaid mobile and retail broadband base, launched tariff plans and schemes, and worked to contain churn.

The foundations were laid earlier. Maheshwari holds a post-graduate degree in management, with dual specialisation in marketing and strategy and leadership, from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, completed between April 2009 and April 2010. She received the ISB Torchbearer Award for leadership attributes, commitment, energetic participation in student activities and overall contribution to brand ISB, and served as president of the radio club.

Before ISB, she spent two years and nine months at National Instruments in Bangalore. She was technical consultant from July 2006 to September 2007, managing sales for India’s largest territory (the south-west: Karnataka, Kerala and Goa) as part of a three-member team. She then became specialist, customer education and services, from October 2007 to March 2009, where she established and led NI India’s services strategic business unit and developed its business goals and its sales, marketing and operations practices for pan-India functioning.

There is also a creative streak. From July 2003 to December 2007, Maheshwari worked part-time as a radio jockey at WorldSpace, conceptualising and hosting a four-hour daily show, and later a special weekend show, on Radio Jhankaar, a contemporary Hindi music station. She is also a Kathak dancer.

Her professional profile lists business development, marketing, sales, product management, data analysis, go-to-market strategies, strategic planning and budgeting, and client and agency relationship management among her strengths, along with a proven track record in content and consumer products licensing, backed by strong quantitative, analytical, complex negotiation and relationship management skills.

Put together, the mix of content, commerce, analytics and storytelling looks well suited to a role that must both pick the right shows and build the right business around them. If the past is any guide, JioStar’s English and international slate is in capable hands.