Radio One shuffles top management

Rajeev Bhandari has been promoted as COO; Rajesh Ranjan takes over as station director, Delhi, while Eathesham Azam is station director, Kolkata.

Radio One has announced several changes in its key team members. Rajeev Bhandari, national sales head, Radio One, has been promoted as chief operating officer. Bhandari will continue to report to Vineet Singh Hukmani, managing director, Radio One. Rajesh Ranjan took over the charges from Bhandari as station director, Delhi, while Eathesham Azam, sales head, Kolkata, is now station director, Kolkata.

Hukmani says, "Bhandari symbolises the fact that we, as a company, are meritocratic and not democratic about promotion. In a short period of time, he has moved up from station head in Delhi and Kolkata to national sales head and now, COO, only because his sense of ownership is 200 per cent. That is the yardstick we have set as a benchmark for everyone."

Earlier, Ranjan was sales head, Delhi.

In order to re-align sales at the national level, Arun Sequeira, sales head, South, has been appointed national head, retail sales; while Saurabh Sehgal, sales head, corporate, Delhi is now national head, corporate sales, Radio One.

Talking about Sequeira and Sehgal, Hukmani says, "Both these gentlemen are experts in their chosen areas and will now lead the sales charge in a focussed and innovative manner across our seven-city sales teams."

On the other hand, Shyju Varkey has been promoted as vice-president, marketing. Though Varkey will continue to look after the Bengaluru office as station head, he has been given the additional role of head, national marketing.

"Varkey has brought in a lot of disruptive, but research-based thinking, used our brand ambassadors Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy very well, and brought alive our 'music focus' - both in media and on ground. He, and his team have excelled in building some great music and cricket properties for us," says Hukmani.

Recently, Radio One de-centralised its city-based operations, paving the way for better performance at the city level. Sabina Sanghvi, station director, Pune, was given the additional responsibility of developing the education sector. Station heads across the seven cities have been promoted as station directors.

Talking about the company's performance and the developments, Hukmani says, "We have outgrown the market in growth and our operating profits are stronger than ever before. We have also monetised innovation and developed stronger value. We have had the highest growth rate in listenership in IRS. This has given our team more confidence to take on elevated roles and responsibilities. We have promoted crucial team members who are going to take our company to the next level."

For the record, Radio One is a joint venture between Mid-day Multimedia and BBC Worldwide. It operates in seven cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Pune.