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Disney consolidates digital biz in India
MUMBAI: After taking full ownership of UTV Software Communications, The Walt Disney Company is consolidating its digital assets in India under a new arm, DisneyUTV Digital, to drive growth in games, video and audio services for mobile, online and interactive TV.
The new division will combine the businesses and talent from Disney, UTV and Indiagames. All content and brands from Disney, Marvel and UTV Bindass, as well as original content and games, will now be developed and managed by DisneyUTV Digital.
Incidentally, UK-based Ignition, a video game publisher, is not part of the new division. The possible reason for this is that Ignition, which has operations in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo, doesn‘t have operations in India. Its portfolio includes titles such as El Shaddai, Mercury, Deadly Premonition, and Faxion Online among others.
UTV had acquired UK-based Ignition along with Indiagames for Rs 1.28 billion in 2006.
The digital division will be spearheaded by Vishal Gondal as managing director. He and Samir Bangara, also MD of the division, will work in collaboration to drive DisneyUTV‘s future growth. Prior to his appointment, Bangara was COO in UTV Indiagames.
The DisneyUTV Digital team will manage all mobile, video, audio, broadband, ITV, games and virtual world‘s initiatives, with a combined audience reach of over 300 million in India.
Previous successes from the Disney and UTV teams in India include several innovative and popular products in the country including Audio Cinema, Divya Kathayein, Digital Studio, Sponsored Tweets, successful mobile games such as Aladdin, DLF IPL Cricket, Cricket Fever, Ra.One Genesis and Club Penguin.
DisneyUTV Digital teams will innovate and deliver unique cross platform and cross media digital experiences focused on entertaining the Indian digital audiences across age groups, the company said.
“Digital media in India is evolving rapidly with mobile leading the way. The country has the world‘s third largest mobile internet user base with over 121 million users (of whom 59% are monthly active users) as of December 2011 in addition to the 85 million PCs and growing number of tablets. With the launch of 3G and onset of 4G services, digital consumption of entertainment is at an all time high and is exhibiting strong growth with new monetisation models emerging around Freemium and ad-funded content,” the company added.
UTV gaming and new media business had raked in Rs 1.2 billion, contributing to 13 per cent of UTV‘s total revenue in FY‘11. The company had registered revenue of Rs 1.07 billion from the segment in the previous fiscal.
The segment, comprising Ignition, Indiagames, True Games, web and mobile, had an operating profit of Rs 141 million, as against an operating loss of Rs 148 million in FY‘10.
Disney UTV Team :
- Cyril Ferry – Executive Director – Mobile
- Sameer Pitalwalla – Director – Video and Celebrity
- Lavina Tauro – Director – Audio and Music
- Deepak Ail – Director – Mobile
- Hrishi Oberoi – Director – Games Publishing
- Saishree Ashwin – Manager – Virtual Worlds
- Tejraj Parab – Business Head – Games on Demand
- Dushyant Saraswat – Director – Broadband & 4G initiatives
- Sachin Janghel – Director – ITV
- Aji Joseph – Director – Ad Sales
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
