MUMBAI: With an aim to strengthen and establish its radio business, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) today announced key promotions at Big FM.

The new appointments are in the area of sales development. Ashwin Padmanabhan who has been with the company for seven years, has been promoted as business head.

Confirming the news with Radioandmusic.com, Padmanabhan says, “ It has been a great journey where I have handled multiple portfolios.” In his new role Padmanabhan will take care of the radio business.

In his previous role, he was business head for west and south. A Masters in Business Administration from the Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli, Padmanabhan has been with the company since inception and is known for his combination of dynamic technical skills and proficient sales knowledge. He has strong general management skills and has a track record of transforming businesses and organizations, and has applied it to Big FM, where he began his career as the station head for the Hyderabad Station.

Commenting on the promotions, Reliance Broadcast Network CEO Tarun Katial says, “We have always been immensely proud of the quality of our workforce. It is they who help create ever-growing value for our customers while driving profitable growth for the company. As the radio business continues to dominate key markets across India, we feel the need to streamline business divisions to derive maximum value within us. We are confident that these moves will help us transform into a more holistic radio business and see us achieving better growth in the near future.”

Moreover, Nitin Jain takes over as national sales head and will now lead the national sales function team.

With over 15 years of experience across sectors like automobiles, telecom and insurance, he has worked at Maruti, Airtel and Max Life Insurance.

Jain brings to the fold key skills in sales, channel management, strategic planning and execution, and people management. He is a holder of the Masters Degree in Business Administration from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Shalini Dureja moves to vice-president, head impact sales west & south. In her new role she will look in areas of key clients, selling key innovations and intellectual properties, while maximising revenues.

A media veteran, Dureja has worked with brands like Radio City and Times of India before joining Big FM over six years ago, where she was the AP cluster head and sales head for Kerala. Her strengths lie in understanding media intricacies, relationship management, customised solutions and networking.

With over two years at the company, Kiran Thangarajan is promoted to cluster head, Tamil Nadu & Kerala. He has worked at Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank as acquisition head for liabilities – Tamil Nadu.

With a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Loyola Institute of Business Administration, he is known for his high interpersonal and people management skills and has earned reputation of being result oriented as he relentlessly drives himself and the teams towards their goals.

Charanjeet Arora moves to the position of regional business head - North 2, which includes the regions of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan.

An MBA in Marketing from the Jaipuria Institute of Management, Arora is known for his in-depth knowledge of media planning, account planning and people skills, and follows the mantra of ‘empowering teams’.

With over 19 years of expereince, he has worked at Modi, Star TV, Lintas, Times of India and DHL in important positions.

Sanjeev Sharma joined Big FM in 2010 as the regional head (Govt. Business) based in Chandigarh growing quickly through the hierarchy to his current role as national head – Government Business, where he will be responsible for revenue generation for both the radio and television businesses. Holder of a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Kurukshetra University, Sharma has worked with companies like Abbott, Pfizer, Zydus Cadila, and Nicholas Piramal India Limited. Prior to joining Big FM, he was serving ICICI Securities in the position of regional head for Punjab and Rajasthan.