Sanjay Dua Appointed CEO Of Network18 News Media Network

To drive Ad sales for India's Largest News Network; till now he was COO & Head, IBN Media Operations.

Rajat Arora | Delhi | January 14, 2011

Sanjay Dua, Chief Operating Officer and Head, IBN Media Operations has been assigned the mandate to lead Network18 News Media Network, the Group's specialized client facing sales division which manages the advertising sales interests of its five News channels. Dua will take over his new mandate with immediate effect.

In his new role, Dua will be spearhead the Group's effort towards consolidating and optimizing revenue growth across its five market leading news channels (CNBC-TV18, CNBC AWAAZ, CNN-IBN, IBN 7 and IBN-Lokmat), spanning the full spectrum of General News, Business News and Regional News brands.  Dua will lead the strategic focus on enhancing revenue effectiveness through innovative and scaled up network wide media solutions and an expansion in client categories and yields. As an additional responsibility, he has been entrusted with the task of overseeing sales for the soon-to-be-launched network of channels from AETN18, Network18's recently announced JV with A&E Television Networks. Earlier, Dua was specifically responsible for identifying and capitalizing on sales growth opportunities at the IBN general news channels of the group.

While the News Media Network will continue to reflect the Group's focus on individual news brands via dedicated teams and sales leaders aligned to each channel, it will now bring together all the leading News assets to exploit opportunities in the evolving competitive environment.

Sanjay Dua has over 20 years of corporate experience, of which the last 15 years have been in media & entertainment. In the past, Dua has led sales strategy for the country's leading media brands across a gamut of genres including sports (ESPN), GECs (Sahara) & English entertainment (Hallmark). Prior to joining Network18, Dua led national sales at the Zee News Network apart from leadership stints at Walt Disney and Bennett & Coleman. Dua is a management graduate from Lucknow University and holds a management qualification from Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA).

Speaking on this development, B.Saikumar, Group COO, Network18 commented “We believe that the market is evolving rapidly, throwing up unique opportunities. Sanjay's mandate is to leverage the strengths of the News Network even while retaining unwavering focus on each individual channel brand.  Sanjay brings with him enviable leadership and depth of experience and will drive and innovation to maximize revenues.'

Sanjay Dua added “I believe that the News space in India is poised for a new phase of expansion and as market leader, with the highest share of influential audiences Network18 is best placed to lead it. We believe substantial opportunities exist to achieve this by collaborating and synergizing across our News Network to deliver sustained value to our clients and partners.  Network 18 presently has the country's best sales talent across levels and I look forward to working with all the teams and sales leaders to achieve our ambitious revenue goals.'

Network 18 had earlier made key CEO appointments across its channels – Ajay Chacko, President AETN18, Anil Uniyal, CEO CNBC-TV18 and CNBC AWAAZ, Dilip Venkatraman, CEO CNN-IBN. The News Media Network will play the role of a centralized sales agency and will work closely with the channel teams and be aligned with the P & L goals of each of the channels.

Rajat.Arora@BestMediaInfo.com

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