Shreyansh Shukla joins WPP Media as head of strategy, Open Door

MUMBAI: Every hit show has a spreadsheet behind it. Shreyansh Shukla has spent more than 18 years being the person who reads it. The media strategist has joined WPP Media as head of strategy, Open Door, after a five-year journey at JioStar and, before it, Disney+ Hotstar.

Shukla took up the post in September 2026 as senior vice-president and head of strategy, Open Door, at WPP Media. He describes himself as a media strategist with 18-plus years of experience in consumer insights and business planning across media verticals, in consulting and in execution. His own summary of his strengths is neat: he is adept in the numbers, the creative and the business decisions of media. Few people in the industry can claim all three.

His farewell to JioStar was warm. Reflecting on his time across both organisations, Shukla says he is deeply grateful to have worked alongside extraordinary mentors, leadership and teams. “Together, we had the privilege of shaping path-breaking content strategies, launching incredible content, and building a platform that truly became part of the cultural zeitgeist,” he says. “I will always cherish our shared successes, the phenomenal culture we built, and the immense learning this experience offered.”

The next chapter, he says, is one he is thrilled to share. “I am thrilled to share the next chapter of my professional journey!” he says. “I’m truly excited to step into an organization with such a rich legacy that continues to lead the evolution of the global media landscape.” He signs off with a promise: “Looking forward to new challenges, continuous learning, and driving impactful growth with the team!”

The résumé explains the enthusiasm. Start in November 2007, when Shukla joined TAM Media Research as manager, key accounts, staying until December 2012. There he worked on growth strategies for channels, the launch and re-launch of channels, and programme launches spanning reality shows and fiction. His sales strategy covered genres from general entertainment channels and movies to regionals, new launches, infotainment and English entertainment. He also handled FPC scheduling, repeat planning, promo planning, content planning and scheduling, and distribution strategy, and worked on countering the growth of competition.

Then came Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, where he spent seven years and eight months in three roles. In December 2012 he became head, research, strategy and business planning for the HSM R cluster, a post he held until November 2013. He headed the research and strategy teams of seven regional channels in the HSM space and created launch strategies for four additional regional channels. He also chalked out growth strategies for existing channels through FPC changes and management, distribution analysis, repeat planning, break scenarios, film festivals and marketing initiatives.

From November 2013 to June 2017 he was lead, research and strategy, at &TV in Mumbai. This was launch work in the full sense: the need and space for a channel, content and genre feasibility, and the targeting of viewers and markets. He built business plans covering channel feasibility and P&L, and shaped decisions on distribution, the launch FPC and the launch media plan. He also drove programming strategy based on consumer insights, market and target group priority for specific shows and slots, and the media mix for sustenance and launches. His promo strategy aimed to optimise on-air time, while his repeat strategy sought to gain new viewers and increase traction for the current show.

His final Zee role, from July 2017 to July 2020, was lead, network research and consumer insights. He created customised products for key business decisions in promo planning, viewership analysis and viewership data, delivered business planning and insights for the network, worked on channel launch strategy and led a crucial network project, Brand Track.

Between Zee and JioStar came Amazon Prime Video in India, where he worked on content insights and acquisition from July 2020 to October 2021. Then came the five-year journey at Disney+ Hotstar and JioStar, ending with the move to WPP Media.

The analysis is straightforward. Shukla’s career has followed the shape of Indian media itself: from channel launches and audience data, through programming and promo strategy, to streaming and content acquisition, and now to a leading global media organisation. That breadth matters. A strategy head at a media group needs to understand how content is commissioned, how audiences are measured and how launches are won or lost, and Shukla has done each of those jobs. His stated aim of driving impactful growth is backed by a record of building business plans, not merely describing them. For WPP Media, he brings a rare vantage point on both sides of the screen.