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Tag: Network18 Digital

  • Network18 Digital appoints new leadership team for general news, branded content business

    Network18 Digital appoints new leadership team for general news, branded content business

    Mumbai: Network18 has announced key appointments for its digital arm – Network18 Digital. According to a statement, the media company is putting in place an experienced team for branded content vertical with strategic additions at both national and regional levels.

    Shobit Bhargava has joined Network18 Digital as national sales head for general news cluster. Bhargava has earlier worked with prominent brands including Times Group, Vodafone, ICICI Bank, Sify, and ITC. At Times Group, he was instrumental in turning around the technology vertical, making it the fastest-growing vertical fuelled by ‘branded content.’

    He will report to Network18 Digital chief operating officer for branded content, revenue management S Shivakumar.

    Sonali Melmane has been appointed as the regional head (West). With over 13 years of experience, she has worked with companies like Star Sports, Times of India, and Standard Chartered Bank. In her previous role with Star Sports, she was responsible for sales and brand solutions across various sporting events like cricket, domestic leagues, and international sports.

    Gunjan Mann has been roped in as the regional head (North). She has been a media marketing professional with over 16 years of experience spread across publishers and agencies. She started her career with experiential marketing and over the years has transitioned into selling space and IPs. She has worked in organisations like Times of India, GroupM, DDB Mudra, and exchange4media.

    Sasi Venkatesh has joined as the regional head (South). With over two decades of experience, Venkatesh is an accomplished sales and marketing professional. Till recently, he was leading the ad solutions business for The Times of India, Bangalore managing key business verticals such as e-business, retail, automobiles, and interior decor. Prior to his stint with ToI, he had worked with organizations like Flipkart Ads, UFO Digital Cinema, and Radio Mirchi.

    All the regional heads will report to Bhargava, said the company in a statement.

    Aneesha Ranjan, who has been leading the North region has been moved to a central strategy role, wherein she will directly work with Shivakumar.

    “Branded content has emerged as a strong focus area for us. In the last few months, we have seen this vertical grow rapidly,” said S Shivakumar. “Keeping the future potential in mind, we are putting in place an experienced leadership team across regions. This vertical will continue to expand as Network18 Digital strives to produce path-breaking and innovative work for its clients to drive unparalleled RoI.”

  • Network18 digital onboards Rohit Chadda as group chief strategy officer

    Network18 digital onboards Rohit Chadda as group chief strategy officer

    Mumbai: Network18 has announced the appointment of Rohit Chadda as group chief strategy officer for its digital arm. He was previously associated with Zee Group as the CEO-digital publishing for over four years.

    In his new role, Rohit will drive important business & strategic projects, growth, new initiatives around product, content, audience & video across the network, and new business/product development for the digital business, the channel said in a statement.

    He will work closely with the leadership team to sharpen the strategy and deployment for scaling the business & operations and will report to Network18 digital president & CEO Puneet Singhvi, it added.

    An award-winning entrepreneur, Rohit has extensive experience across technology, e-commerce, fintech, OTT, and media & entertainment. He also co-founded two start-ups – Foodpanda and PayLo.

    Speaking on his appointment, Rohit said, “I am elated to be a part of Network18, a platform renowned to thrive in excellence. I am excited to join the remarkable team and execute on all the exciting upcoming initiatives. The future is here and untapped – I am looking forward to creating value for the network and its portfolio of companies.”

  • Network18 Digital appoints Siddharth Raj Jain as the chief technology officer

    Network18 Digital appoints Siddharth Raj Jain as the chief technology officer

    KOLKATA: Network18 has announced the appointment of Siddharth Raj Jain as its CTO of Network18 Digital. Jain, in his new role, will take up the responsibility of all technology functions for Network18 Digital to enable the company’s continued national and regional growth, as well as oversee the company’s technology teams. Focusing on its strong digital presence, he will leverage his experience and strength of the Network to accelerate growth for the content business.

    Jain brings in more than two decades of experience in technology and product development across Fintech, Ad Tech, Navigation and Software Development. Prior to this role, he has worked with PayU where he is credited with building the consumer credit business of LazyPay and also led data & engineering for the consumer business. In addition to that, he has also worked with Infosys, Subex, Nokia (India) and Inmobi.

     “I am delighted to be a part of a leading media conglomerate like Network18. As a fan of products that this team has built, I await connecting with the team and hearing their success stories. I feel fortunate to be surrounded by a tremendous team of professionals who are dedicated to creating a positive and digitized experience for the audience and look forward to being part of this team for the upcoming seasons of ‘Success Stories’,” he shared.

    With ever increasing focus on technology, Network18 Digital has scaled up the reach of its content at a fast pace. He will report to Puneet Singhvi, president – Digital & Corporate Development, Network18.

  • News18 tops competition again, retains its status as most read platform

    News18 tops competition again, retains its status as most read platform

    MUMBAI: News18 reigns supreme fourth-time in a row amongst multi-vernacular (Indian languages) news/information platform as it recorded the highest number of unique visitors amongst multi-vernacular (Indian languages) sites on Comscore mobile metrix November 2019 for the mobile web platform. According to the recently released data, the multi lingual platform retained its top rank with a 6 per cent increase in its unique visitors count accounting to more than 91 million unique visitors. In addition to this, News18 Punjab2 and News18 Telugu3 bagged the number one position amongst the Punjabi and Telugu news sites, respectively.

    News18 enables its user’s access to their preferred language by providing news and live TV across 11 languages. The languages are Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Assamese and Urdu. The platform seeks to maintain its leadership position with a continuous growth of unique visitors in each of the above-mentioned respective regions. With constant growth and market dominance, retaining its position on top for the fourth time in a row, reflects the dedication of the platform to provide excellence and personalized content for the audience.

    Network18 Digital COO- general news Mitul Sangani said, “We are delighted that our platform is widely read and consumed by our audience. As the leading multi lingual platform, it is our responsibility to provide our audience with relevant content and offerings that make for a valuable and insightful experience. We aim to maintain relationship with our audience by providing them innovative, original, and diverse content through our well-balanced reach and ace-quality news. We hope to meet the demands of our audience and will strive hard to maintain our position.”

  • Network18 digital strengthens its technology squad appoints Pandurang Nayak as chief technology officer

    Network18 digital strengthens its technology squad appoints Pandurang Nayak as chief technology officer

    MUMBAI: Network18, India’s most diversified media conglomerate today announced the appointment of Pandurang Nayak as Chief Technology Officer of its digital arm, Network18 Digital. The entity is among the largest multi-platform destinations for objective breaking news, opinions, financial data and infotainment for the evolved digital news consumer and houses assets such as moneycontrol, firstpost, cnbctv18.com, in.com, CricketNext and news18. 

    With over 20 years of experience in building technology-led enterprises, consumer products and solutions, Pandurang has held leadership positions at Cognizant, Microsoft, Times Internet and Fork Media. He joins Network18 Digital from Fork Media where he was the Chief Operating & Technology Officer. Pandurang is a qualified engineer.

    Network18 Digital is constantly seeding new ideas to be the dominant force in the digital news space. Pandurang joins the organization at a time when cutting-edge technology, data science, AI and other advances in technology are enabling publishers to evolve and drive the creation and delivery of content. With ever increasing focus on technology, Network18 Digital has scaled up the reach of its content at a fast pace. Its news offering under News18 umbrella is available in 11 languages. Its flagship business and finance app moneycontrol is ranked as Asia’s number 1. Properties like Firstpost and CricketNext are leaders in their respective space. During the past one year, the group launched cnbctv18.com and in.com to strengthen its position as an all-rounder in digital news space. Pandurang will focus on building a strong team that will leverage tech innovations and trends across products and content.

    Talking about his appointment, Pandurang said, “I am delighted to be a part of this Network. Network18 Digital’s family legacy and its international partnerships gives it access to the most exhaustive and trusted content from across India and around the world in multiple flavors, languages and subject genres. The group houses the strongest digital brands that have a deep user connect. I feel that in an ever-changing world with evolving consumer behaviour, publishers face unique challenges in engaging with these consumers. Being a technologist, I see this as a great opportunity to tap.”

    Pandurang will report to Puneet Singhvi, Head – Network18 Digital and will be based in Mumbai.

  • Moneycontrol launches Moneycontrol Transact for Mutual Fund Investors

    Moneycontrol launches Moneycontrol Transact for Mutual Fund Investors

    MUMBAI: Moneycontrol, India’s leading financial platform from Network18 Digital has amplified its proposition by introducing a new app on Mutual Funds called- ‘Moneycontrol Transact’. The innovative app enables the users to understand and undertake all the MF activities comprising making investments, viewing recommendations and analyzing markets/investments on-the-go. Moneycontrol Transact comes with a personalized feature which recommends suitable mutual funds to users based on the multiple parameters.

    Through various user selected specifications, the app examines how much the user wants to invest, what is the investment horizon, current financial conditions and responsibilities of the user. The custom recommendations suggest inputs based on investor’s age and their risk-taking abilities.

    Personalized recommendations on the app are powered by CRISIL Research, known for their expertise in MF sphere. Moneycontrol Transact offers a curated list of funds from 39 fund houses and will be available for users to select their preferred asset class, time horizon and their investment focus. In order to get updates on-the-go, users can easily navigate on top performing funds across all categories and utilize all the features for free.

    For the digital-savvy generation, Moneycontrol Transact makes it easy for them to register, invest, submit and complete all the necessary procedures conveniently without getting into any paperwork hassle. A detailed portfolio analysis can be accessed 24×7 by the users across beginners and experts, including their investment records, attained profits/ losses and exhaustive study about their mutual fund activities to give them a collective view across different holdings.

    At the launch, Gautam Shelar Business Head for moneycontrol, said, “Based on extensive user research and feedback we have received from our moneycontrol user community, we have launched the first iteration of the moneycontrol transact app. After the launch of our premium paid offering Moneycontrol Plus, our strategic alliance with CRISIL, an industry stalwart in this domain, we will further diversify our business from an ad driven model. We are looking to tap the cross section of millions of mutual fund investors in India, a large part of whom are already loyal moneycontrol users. We have been pioneers in providing best in class information to our users and now in order to execute the transactions/ activities seamlessly on Moneycontrol Transact, the information can be combined with recommendations to deliver superior perspectives and insights to our users.”

    On the new launch, Avinash Mudaliar, Chief product officer of Network18 says, “We are extending the Moneycontrol brand to a transaction platform for a better service to our existing users, who have trusted us for almost 2 decades for all their financial needs and information before investing. Mutual fund awareness is growing and investments by retail investors have seen tremendous growth of 1.6 Lakh Crore in past 12 months. We have developed a product which can handhold new investors of mutual funds while also satiate the requirements of more seasoned investors who want to get insights into their investments. New users will find a product that is simple and elegant to use and will also be able to invest in mutual funds quickly yet confidently, backed by moneycontrol and CRISIL’s recommendations. At the same time, advanced users will be engaged by the consolidated as well as granular views of their investments. We are looking to continuously evolve and add more value driven features for our users.” 

  • Teejay Sidhu to Host Firstpost’s 9 Months Season 3 – A GroundbreAzim Lalani,

    Teejay Sidhu to Host Firstpost’s 9 Months Season 3 – A GroundbreAzim Lalani,

    MUMBAI: Firstpost’s 9 Months, a successful web-series and India’s one-of-its-kind comprehensive show on parenting and childcare promises to be bigger, better and more engaging in its third season. This time around, viewers will be welcomed by renowned actor, RJ, film producer and mother – Teejay Sidhu, who is the host on the show. The audience will witness riveting conversations between the host and celebrity parents as well as accredited experts. The discussions revolve around interesting topics such as toddler health, family and financial planning, child schooling and education, in keeping with the platform’s core ethos of delivering more value to the audience, with each season.

    Commenting on the upcoming series Azim Lalani, Business Head – English General News Cluster, Network18 Digital said, “9 Months along with Firstpost’s other digital shows has cemented our success in the original web-series segment. The third season of 9 Months has seen more partner brands, highly influential celebrities and experts renowned in their respective fields, being associated with the offering. What makes it even more exciting is having Teejay Sidhu, a mother of twin daughters, onboard. Teejay’s strong digital presence and her communication as an active parent influencer perfectly aligns with the show’s core concept. With the novel and innovative developments in the upcoming season, we intend to reach a wider reach, achieve higher engagement and deliver more sharable content. The invaluable associations on the show stand testament to Firstpost’s immense credibility as one the leading digital platforms in the country.”   

    Garnering a whooping 11.8 million views and a reach of 20 million across platforms, the previous season left the audience captivated and wanting for more. In addition to a new host, the upcoming season welcomes influential celebrities like Karanvir Bohra; Barkha & Indraneil Sengupta, Manmeet Anjjan (of Meet Bros fame) and Karishma Modi; Rajneesh and Pallavi Duggal; Jai Bhanushali and Mahi Vij; Danish Aslam and Shruti Seth. They will be seen sharing their personal experiences on parent health, relationships, tackling setbacks around nutrition and achieving new milestones.

    To provide an expert view on these conversations, they have been accompanied by eminent experts like Dr. Nitin Shah, Pediatrician, Dr. Samir Dalwai – Developmental Pediatrician, Founder of New Horizon Child Development Center, Arundhati Swamy, Head – Parent Engagement Programmes, ParentCircle; Avnita Bir, Director Principal, R N Podar School; Naiyya Saggi, CEO & Founder, Baby Chakra, Dr. Sanjoy Mukherjee, Psychologist; Mansi  Zaveri, Founder, Kidsstoppress.com; Ruchita Dar Shah, Founder of First Moms Club among other distinguished personalities.

    Speaking about 9 Months Season 3, Priyanka Sehgal, VP Content & Strategy, Netwrok18 said, “The fact that 9 Months has reached its third season stands testimony to consumption of this kind of content. 9 Months was meant to be every parent’s go-to guide and I think we have achieved that. We have attempted to include parents with varied parenting styles and their experiences. There are research based opinions and tips which will be beneficial to our audiences. On a lighter note, viewers will also see Teejay and her husband Karanvir Bohra in a candid chat about how they manage their busy schedules and twin daughters.”

    The show is presented by Baby Dove and co-presented by Nestle Ceregrowand Asian Paints. Other partners include Sanofi Pasteur as the Health Journey Partner, Godrej Security Solutions as the Peace of Mind Partner and Mother Dairy as the Nutrition Partner. The web-series will be shown on Firstpost and its Facebook & YouTube channel.

  • Network18 Digital Strikes a Fashion Chord: Launches ‘India Ka Fashion Capital’

    Network18 Digital Strikes a Fashion Chord: Launches ‘India Ka Fashion Capital’

    MUMBAI: Network 18 Digital expands its gamut of original digital shows with the announcement of its new chic offering – India Ka Fashion Capital, powered by Flipkart Fashion and produced by Firstpost Studio. The upcoming show aims to storm the world of fashion, style and glamour. It features a cutting edge concept which revolves around exploring breakthrough fashion trends and their genesis. Ira Dubey, the host takes to the streets of Indian cities to discover how they contribute to the fashion scene of the country.

    The digital series will not only show the current fashion trends in Indian cities but will also dig deeper into the evolution of those trends that influence Indian styles. Presented in a five part series of 8 – 10 minutes each, the captivating episodes will be shown in a documentary format thereby establishing a stronger connect with the audience.

     The show promises to reveal facts that will fascinate even the most ardent fashionistas.  It will share exciting and unknown trivia such as – the name of a popular clothing style ‘dungaree’ originated from the area of Dongri in Mumbai, costumes of the sensational series Game of Thrones came from Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar and more such riveting facts which further makes the show engaging and enthralling.

    Commenting on the new show, Azim Lalani, Business Head of English General News Cluster, Network 18 said, “Our priority has always been to engage a diverse set of audience with strong, original and one-of-its-kind content. Our offerings to our viewers are accentuated by effective collaborations with brands such as Flipkart. It’s a two-way association where our content significantly highlights the brands’ efforts and assists them with achieving their communication goals. For Flipkart’s India Ka Fashion Capital we have creatively reinforced the platform’s standing as one-stop-destination for all things fashion. Along with delivering an innovative marketing solution to the brand we are sharing excellent content for our discerning audience that diligently follows fashion trends. The unique show also adds to our repertoire of path-breaking digital offerings.”

    Sharing his perspective on the show, Sushanth Ravikumar, Associate Director – Brand Marketing, Flipkart said, “India’s local fashion markets play an integral role in molding the country’s fashion culture. Flipkart aims to recreate and improve on the best aspects of these markets. This web series explores what makes Flipkart Fashion ‘India Ka Fashion Capital’ in a manner that is genuinely interesting and our partnership with Network18 Digital enables us to reach a diverse audience with quality content. “

    The series will be launched on August 27, 2018 on Network18 Digital websites and on Firstpost and Flipkart’s YouTube channels.

    Promo link: https://www.facebook.com/firstpostin/videos/1938043026255343/

  • Network18 Digital hires Saregama’s Mudaliar as chief product officer

    Network18 Digital hires Saregama’s Mudaliar as chief product officer

    MUMBAI: Network18 Digital (N18D), the digital arm of the Network18 Group, has appointed Avinash Mudaliar as the chief product officer. Mudaliar has an experience of over 16 years across media including digital, print and radio and has a plethora of accolades to his name.

    At N18D, Mudaliar will be responsible for working across all the digital properties of Network18 (firstpost, moneycontrol, News18.com and other sub-brands like Cricketnext, Compare India, Tech2, Indiwo , Faking News) – working with the teams, defining present enhancements on existing products and working future roadmaps and initiatives.

    Considering the future is going to be 4G-enabled and video focused and Avinash’s experience in handling products both around video and audio is a great addition to the Network’s strength. He also brings with him a deep understanding of news and content and the ability to package it in across both the physical and digital products.

    Network18 Digital CEO Manish Maheshwari says, “Avinash brings an unparalleled understanding of the digital space to the table. His presence will bolster the on-going activities and bring in the momentum to look at a number of clutter-breaking products in the arena. He has often walked the unconventional path and with Network18 Digital’s intention to consistently deliver out-of-the box content, he is the perfect addition to the team.”

    Prior to this, Mudaliar was the vice president – product, technology and IT at Saregama whom he joined in 2013 as VP and head of internet products. He also grew the Youtube business manifold.

    In the last four years, he led the team which conceptualised and executed all of Saregama’s digital, physical product and technology initiatives, the latest being Saregama Carvaan – the digital radio. His team also led the development of D2C products like the new Saregama.com music store and app, Saregama’s niche music apps like Saregama Classical and Shakti and the creation of the backend technology and analytics platforms which power and service both Saregama’s B2B clients and internal initiatives. He also headed and grew the Youtube business manifold.

    Before his stint at Saregama, he worked with Times Internet Ltd (TIL). He was the co-founder and business head of Gaana.com. While he was the vice-president and business head of Indiatimes, he and his team simultaneously worked on a product which became Gaana.com. Gaana.com was then hived off as a separate entity which he went on to head. He joined TIL in 2008 as VP – head of content, creative. His role involved scoping and execution of internal products within Indiatimes. He was given business responsibilities and made business head and went on to head multiple verticals within TIL which included gaming, infoTech and videos.

    Mudaliar says: “Getting our products right and understanding our customers would be key – it’s great to be part of an ecosystem which is focused on serving what the customer wants ”

    This is a home-coming for Mudaliar as in the past he was a part of the founding team of In.com and served as the founder editor-in-chief of In.com at Web18 (Now Network18 Digital). Prior to that, he was with Radio Mirchi as the cluster programming head for south. His earlier stints with the internet include being a partner of Microsoft’s Bhashaindia Indic language computing initiative and BPL’s Oyeindia.com.

  • Durga Raghunath takes charge as CEO, Network18 Digital

    Durga Raghunath takes charge as CEO, Network18 Digital

    MUMBAI: Network18 Digital, the digital content arm of Network18, has strengthened its leadership structure by elevating Durga Raghunath to CEO.

     

    She was earlier the CEO of Firstpost.com, the news and opinion portal from the group. Lakshmi Narasimhan, the previous CEO for the group’s digital content business, is now moving onto a corporate role.

     

    Network18 COO Ajay Chacko said “At Network18 Digital, we are proud to have built cult digital content brands which have had a defining influence on the space. As consumer internet in India undergoes a paradigm shift, we continue to be focused on leading this change from the front. Durga is well-equipped to lead this effort for us due to her strong understanding of the digital user, products and the opportunity.”

     

    Narasimhan added “Durga has played a stellar role in transforming Firstpost from an innovative idea into a leader brand today. We are confident that in this expanded mandate, she will take Network18 Digital to newer heights”

     

    Speaking on her elevation, Raghunath said “The Network18 Digital portfolio would make anyone proud. As digital usage and spends spiral up in India, it is exciting to have the opportunity to do more with our existing products as well as build new ones”

     

    Raghunath has over ten years experience in publishing – both books and digital. She previously worked with the Wall Street Journal, Mint and HarperCollins in New York. She has an MBA from ISB and studied publishing at Columbia University. Durga joined Network18 in 2011 and conceptualized and launched firstpost.com.

     

    Network18 Digital, earlier referred to as Web18, comprises a bouquet of digital content brands and services. This includes Moneycontrol.com, Ibnlive.com, Firstpost.com and Burrp.com. Cumulatively, Network18 Digital reaches over 25 million unique visitors on an average every month, according to comScore.