Amitabh Srivastava appointed regional head, South Asia, AIB

Srivastava was country head, India at Radio Netherlands Worldwide. At AIB, he will oversee the association's membership in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) has taken on board Amitabh Srivastava as regional head, South Asia. AIB plans to expand to various parts of the world and this development marks a step in this direction.

AIB announced the appointment through its official website.

Srivastava will oversee the growth of AIB's membership in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. He will also help strengthen the association's bonds with the countries, with significant expansion in the number of TV channels and radio stations. Gradually, a large number of these broadcasters are entering into international markets.

Srivastava will also assist AIB's existing members to develop their businesses in the region. He has also developed partnerships between media owners and mobile operators in South Asia.

Earlier, Srivastava was with Radio Netherlands Worldwide as country head, India.

In an official communiqué, Simon Spanswick, chief executive, AIB, says, "Srivastava has worked in the media sector in India representing major brands for a number of years and has achieved remarkable success. Now we look forward to him leading AIB's growth in one of the world's most dynamic and fastest-growing media markets."

At Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Srivastava developed the first partnership between All India Radio and an international broadcaster, and achieved significant rebroadcasting and content syndication deals with commercial FM stations and new media platforms in the region.

Srivastava says, "It is great to be joining the world's leading industry association and supporting major international TV and radio broadcasters as well as service providers. I look forward to developing AIB's membership base in South Asia and to involving more broadcasters from this region in global conversations."

Srivastava started his career with Taj Hotels as a front office employee in 1989. Five years later, he moved to Times Television as senior officer. In 1996, he joined MTV India as account manager.

In 1997, however, he moved on to a national role at BBC Worldwide as national manager, taking care of the entire distribution in South Asia. Srivastava then moved on to join TV Today group in 2000 and remained there for five years. As general manager at TV Today, he managed distribution and brand marketing since the launch of Aaj Tak and played a crucial role in the launch of the English news channel, Headlines Today.

In 2005, he was appointed director, affiliate relations at Walt Disney Company and managed the STAR-Disney relationship for distribution. Then, in 2007, he joined Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) as country head, India.

He is also a media consultant for his own company, I Media International, which handles a few major international broadcasting companies. He formed the company in 2006 and works as its director.