Dilip Venkatraman gets expanded role; named CEO for IBN7

He will drive strategy, synergies and profitability for both CNN-IBN and IBN7.

N Dilip Venkatraman, CEO, CNN-IBN has now also been assigned the mandate to lead IBN7, the Network18 Group's national Hindi news service as chief executive officer.

In the expanded role, Venkatraman will be responsible for the strategic and operational management of both IBN7 and CNN-IBN. With this, Venkatraman takes over the leadership from Piyush Jain, who will now focus on the group's regional news forays.

Commenting on the development, Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat, says, "Dilip has been a core member of the team instrumental in building the IBN news channels into a strong position, beginning with the launch of CNN-IBN in 2005. His success in building on our values of inclusive journalism has propelled CNN-IBN forward and we're confident that his leadership of IBN7 will take it to new heights."

B Saikumar, group CEO, Network18, says, "We believe that the national news market is at an exciting juncture in its growth story and both CNN-IBN and IBN7 are well placed to capitalise on future opportunities. IBN7 has emerged as a brand with a distinct credo of journalism and viewer traction. In Dilip, we entrust the responsibility of exploiting synergies, ensuring sustained profitability and leading the drive to further enhance the brand equity and audience franchise of CNN-IBN and IBN7."

It may be recalled that Venkatraman was appointed as CEO of the English news channel, CNN-IBN in 2010. Earlier, he led marketing operations for all existing IBN channels, namely CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat, and managed IBN Focus, the customised media solutions unit for the channels.

Venkatraman says, "In a highly competitive environment, we believe that IBN7 has carved a unique position for itself. Our goal now will be to unlock the value of its brand and thereby pave the way for further growth. I hope to work closely with the IBN7 team to ensure this objective is achieved."

Venkatraman has more than two decades of corporate experience. Before joining Network18, he held leadership positions at the India Today Group and Zee Network.

He is a graduate in public administration and holds management qualifications from IIM Bangalore and Harvard Business School.