Peter Mukerjea Star Struck Confessions of A TV Executive

About the Book What there is, is this: the incredible story of how it was done, written by the man who was at the forefront of it all.

The early '90s marked an age of American TV dominating the world, from Baywatch to Cheers to The Jerry Springer Show. Only, it wasn't winning over the Indian market, where access to one billion TV viewers was dominated by a powerful terrestrial network.

Sensing a once-in-a-generation opportunity, Rupert Murdoch gave Peter Mukerjea a seemingly impossible task-to grow a tiny foreign-owned TV channel in India into one of the biggest in the world.

If Peter Mukerjea was David, Goliath was a broadcasting behemoth with the weight of the Indian government behind it, and decades of funding, brand-building and a deeply entrenched place in the hearts and minds of Indian viewers. And as any self-respecting giant-slayer will tell you, the only way to take down such an opponent is to throw convention out of the window, risk failure every day and pull together a rag-tag team of adventurers to join the impossible quest.

From battling rival CEOs to winning over presidents, from making multimillion dollar deals in the back of a Mumbai taxi to audaciously hiring the biggest film star in the world as your TV host-and making him even bigger-this book chronicles the unbelievable (yet 100 per cent true) story of how a crack team turned Star TV from a quirky challenger channel to the shining jewel in the crown of the Murdoch, and now Disney, global media empire.

About the Author PETER (PRATIM) MUKERJEA is widely recognised as perhaps the most successful television professional in the history of the industry in India.

In the early '70s, Peter moved to London to start his professional career. His first job was at HJ Heinz Co., where he joined as a graduate trainee and simultaneously graduated in business studies from Watford College. He then worked with leading companies across the world, specialising in marketing and business management.

In the early '90s, Peter returned to India and transformed a loss-making Star TV into a billion-dollar network, which continues to be a dominant media force in South Asia nearly twenty years later. Under his watch, definitive and cultural landmark shows were birthed, superstars born, and Indian culture and media became a vibrant export. Credited with disrupting the Indian media landscape as chief executive of Star India, Peter grew to become Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man in the television industry in the region. As a result, he was awarded 'CEO of the Year' numerous times, and was on India Today's Power list for four consecutive years.

However, Peter considers his highest accolade thus far to be the recipient of the 'Happiest Man in Class' award given to him at the end of the 101st session of the Kellogg School of Management in 2002. He resides in Bristol, England, but currently lives in Mumbai, India.

Preface `Is the barber on leave?' asked Christopher Miller, the new, ever-so-English headmaster at the Doon School in Dehra Dun, nestled in the foothills of the majestic Himalayas. Mr Miller had just taken over as HM, which is how we pupils referred to the headmaster.

Mr Miller was looking directly at me when he said this, during the drinks break of a school football match. I got that it was a trick question, even if its humour went well over my little head. Literally, I was elevenish, and I had to look up at this tall, white Englishman to see if he was joking. I'm not sure how I responded, if at all, but it was my first experience of the English sense of humour that endeared Mr Miller to us boys. Anyway, I got the message-I needed a haircut.

Little did I know then that Mr Miller would go on to have a profound effect on my adult life. Fast forward to the early '70s, when I, Pratim Mukerjea, known as Pete to my family and Pillay to my school friends, arrived at London's Heathrow airport for the first time. It was my first solo overseas trip. Mr Miller fetched me at the airport. I was to stay at his home as his guest and ward and was both very nervous and very excited. At last, I was here, in London-a city that like a web was too intricate to fully understand, though, at the time, I wasn't equipped to even try.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages