Uday Shankar to enter Viacom18

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Editor's note: For a few weeks now, billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s media venture Viacom18 has been working on a deal to sell a part of the company. And the possible buyer is the investment firm operated by one of India’s most influential media executives Uday Shankar, two people aware of the development confirmed. The talks are at an advanced stage and the process of due diligence has been on for weeks, a third executive added. More importantly, Shankar is coming on board to play a key role in the operations of the company and will not just be an investor.  Viacom18 is one of the larger media and entertainment firms in India. At the moment, the company runs 46 television channels in eight languages, a video streaming service called Voot, a film studio, a consumer products vertical and a live events vertical. The company is a joint venture between Reliance Industries-owned TV18 Broadcast Ltd and the American media conglomerate ViacomCBS Inc. (formerly Viacom Inc.); TV18, whose immediate holding company is Network18 Media and Investments, owns 51% of this venture.  On the other hand, …