Kamat quits Viacom18, to join Chernin's CA Media

Viacom 18 Group COO and Colors CEO Rajesh Kamat has resigned after heading the group for more than three years. He is slated to join Chernin Group’s CA Media as its India CEO.

Kamat has been instrumental in launching the Colors entertainment channel and taking it to a leadership position.

“My assignment with Viacom18 has been one of my most challenging and gratifying one. With a team of extremely talented people and great management, we’ve created a brand (Colors) that I am going to be proud of, forever,” he said. Kamat will be with Viacom18 till June. Henceforth, all functions of Colors will be managed by by Haresh Chawla, Group CEO, Viacom18.

“Indian media and entertainment domain is bustling with developments. My next assignment with CA Media will give me the opportunity to create a blueprint for leveraging and monetising these opportunities,” he said.

Viacom 18, (a 50:50 joint venture operated by Network18 and Viacom Inc) bouquet includes Hindi general entertainment channel Colors, news channels CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNN-IBN and IBN 7, a channel for children Nick and music and lifestyle channels MTV and VH1. It also has interests in the web and mobile space.

Just a few months after its launch, Colors had managed to beat its rivals Star Plus, Zee TV, Imagine and Sony. According to TAM data released early this week, Colors seems to be back in the race for No.1 spot just 18 gross ratings points away from Star Plus.