More leadership changes in Network18 News Media

Earlier this month, the group announced a new national revenue head for CNN-IBN, while now it has announced the national revenue heads for the business channels, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz.

Network18 News Media has announced the appointment of Sonia Kapoor as national revenue head for its English business news channel, CNBC-TV18; while Sterling Ferreira will come on board as national revenue head for the Hindi business news channel, CNBC Awaaz.

Recently, the network announced that there would be a series of re-alignments in its leadership team. This was initiated with the appointment of the national revenue head for the English general news channel, CNN-IBN.

Vishal Bhatnagar was taken on-board to head the revenue department for CNN-IBN earlier this month.

In an official communiqué, Kapoor says, "It's been a momentous journey so far and my experience with CNBC-TV18 has been intense, enriching and very satisfying. I look forward to bring it to bear fruit as we thrust forward and further strengthen the brand."

Earlier, Kapoor was in charge of the West and South regions as senior vice-president and regional head for CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz. She joined the Network 18 group in 2002.

Ferreira, on the other hand, was earlier handling the responsibilities which are now handled by Vishal Bhatnagar at CNN-IBN. He joined the group in 2005.

Ferreira says, "CNBC Awaaz is at a very interesting juncture in its success story. I hope to work with the CNBC Awaaz editorial and marketing teams to ensure that we build further on the unique position the brand has already achieved."

The group adds that this is a part of the leadership re-alignment at Network18 News Media. Network18 News Media is the client-facing ad sales unit which manages the advertising interests of the channels at the Network18 group, including CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNN-IBN, IBN7, IBN-Lokmat and History TV18. Ad sales for the ETV regional news network, subject to regulatory approvals for the acquisition, will also form a part of this stable.

Speaking on this development, Anil Uniyal, CEO, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, says, "Both Kapoor and Ferreira have been remarkable contributors to the brands they have been entrusted with over the years. Kapoor's been instrumental in establishing CNBC-TV18 as a benchmark in the monetisation of news brands and her perspective in charting the next phase of its growth will be critical. Ferreira comes in with stellar experience across a variety of news brands, which will be crucial as we go on to unlock the tremendous potential of CNBC Awaaz."

Commenting on the larger re-alignment plans at Network18 News Media, Sanjay Dua, CEO, Network18 News Media, says, "Our goal now is to build further on this leadership, both in terms of innovations as well as stronger network deliveries and this re-alignment is a step in that direction."

Kapoor graduated in law from Kishinchand Chellaram College of Law in 1997. She joined Indian Express in 1998 as business development executive. In 2000, she moved to TV Today Network to look after media strategy and the client servicing part of the business.

In 2002, she moved on to Network18 as manager.

Ferreira has more than two decades of experience spanning a variety of media companies, including the Indian Express Group, Business Standard, ABP, Tata and Red FM.