Good Bad Billionaire Ronnie Screwvala: The cable guy
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Mar 2, 2026 A rags‑to‑riches tale of a toothbrush seller who rewired India’s TV landscape. Stories of door‑to‑door cable installs, launching the country’s first daily soap and a kids’ channel. Big media deals with Murdoch and Disney and a pivot into ed‑tech that made him a billionaire.
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Liberalisation Turned Viewers Into A Monetisable Market
- India's 1991 liberalisation opened satellite TV, private channels and a booming advertising market that created a mass-consumer audience.
- Ronnie leveraged this by producing high-volume TV content and selling ads as audiences became monetisable consumers.
Murdoch Deal Made Ronnie A Millionaire
- In 1995 Ronnie closed a deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which bought 49% of UTV for $5m — the first foreign media investment in India.
- Ronnie retained 51% and operational control, becoming a millionaire before 40.
Owning Distribution Scales Value Faster Than Production
- Ronnie moved from content production to owning channels and partnerships to capture more of the value chain.
- He bought a Tamil channel, partnered with Star for distribution, and later exited for cash to fund further expansion.