Neeraj Attri joins ETV

Attri will head ad sales and marketing of the upcoming Gujarati news channel from ETV.

Neeraj Attri, former business head of The Sandesh, has joined ETV.

Attri has joined the company as sales and marketing head of its upcoming Gujarati news channel, ETV News Gujarati. The channel is slated for a launch on April 30 in a high-profile inauguration ceremony.

Based in Ahmedabad, Attri will look after the national sales and marketing of the channel. He will also promote other news channels of the network in his region, implying that he will strike package deals with clients for the other news channels of the network along with ETV News Gujarati.

He will report to Jagdeesh Chandra, head, ETV News Network. Chandra is an ex-IAS officer who took voluntary retirement in 2008.

On joining ETV, Attri says, "I'm delighted to join the group as it is in an expansion mode with strong backing. It is an extremely challenging role and I look forward to developing and strengthening the brand in this region."

According to Attri, the ad market for Gujarati news channels is set to expand. "There will be a conversion from print to TV news channels in Gujarat. This is what has happened in other regional markets as well. What will also help in Gujarat is that its four main cities - Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara - are turning into mini metros. The spending capacity in these cities is increasing steadily and advertisers will want to capture this market. As compared to the markets in Bengal and Maharashtra, Gujarat is at a very nascent stage. But there is scope for growth here. Only the right strategy has to be implemented."

Attri adds that around April 15, the channel will kick off its marketing and promotion.

Attri brings to the table over 15 years of experience in print and out of home media sales and marketing. His last stint was with The Sandesh Limited as business head. Earlier, he was with Sambhaav Media, which he joined in 2002 as manager, sales and marketing in Mumbai, and was consistently promoted to positions of increasing responsibility. He was promoted as national head, sales and marketing at Sambhaav Media in 2011.

He has also worked with the Navbharat Group as manager, sales, in Mumbai, and Aishwarya Publications as manager, advertising.