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Mumbai:
Network18 Media & Investments has undertaken a significant
reorganisation of corporate structure at its news media business
under TV18 Broadcast. CNN IBN and IBN7 will now be headed
by a common chief executive officer (CEO) in N Dilip Venkatraman.
 Venkataraman,
who was earlier CEO of only CNN IBN, replaces Piyush Jain
at IBN7. In his expanded role, Venkatraman will be responsible
for the strategic and operational management of both IBN7
and CNN-IBN.
Jain
moves on to head TV18's regional news foray, which will get
a boost with the proposed acquisition of ETV's news channels
- ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV
Bihar and ETV Urdu.
The
only regional news channel currently operating under TV18
is IBN Lokmat, a Marathi language television news channel,
owned equally by TV18 and Lokmat group of newspapers.
Network18
and TV18 are raising funds through their respective rights
issues primarily for the acquisition of ETV group of television
channels including news and general entertainment channels
for Rs 21 billion from Reliance Industries Ltd. The companies
are seeking to raise Rs 26.99 billion each from the rights
issues, which will close on 4 October.
RIL
will fund the Network18 promoter companies for subscribing
to the rights issues and in exchange will get optionally convertible
debentures issued by the promoter companies of Network18.
RIL will lend a minimum of Rs 17 billion through investments
in optionally convertible debentures. If none of the non-promoter
shareholders subscribe to the rights issue, RIL will lend
a higher amount.
Since
Network18 group owns 59.76 per cent of TV18, the net capital
raised from the rights issues will be Rs 43.12 billion.
CNN-IBN,
IBN7, IBN-Lokmat editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, "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 remarkable 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".
Network18
Group CEO B Saikumar added, "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 capitalize 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".
"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 said.
Venkatraman
was appointed as the CEO of the English news channel CNN-IBN
in 2010. Prior to that, he was leading marketing operations
for all existing IBN channels- CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat
and managing IBN Focus, the customised media solutions unit
for the channels.
He
is also known for conceptualising properties including CNN-IBN
Indian of the Year, Real Heroes, IBN7 Diamond States Awards,
Citizen Journalist Awards and IBN7 Super Idols.
Venkatraman
has over two decades of corporate experience and prior to
joining Network18, he held leadership positions at the India
Today Group and Zee Network.
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