UTV’s Vikas Varma joins Radio City as national head, programming

UTV’s Vikas Varma has joined Radio City as national head, programming. Varma is leading the national creative team and is based in Mumbai.

Confirming this development, Varma says, “As a medium, radio has always fascinated me. Unfortunately, radio hasn’t got its deserved place in the media planners’ mindsets. But now, because of the latest government policies, radio is going to open up and boom in a big way. I thought this was the perfect time for me to join this medium and try and make a difference.”

Commenting on his goals for the future, Varma says, “The real challenge lies in trying to make Indian radio content meet international standards. Just the way it is in television, content is the king in radio, too, and we will try to innovate constantly at Radio City.”

Varma’s job profile includes supervision of all national programming initiatives and introducing innovations, in addition to working on the programming mix for Radio City’s upcoming stations.

Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City, remarks on Varma’s appointment, “This is an exciting time for Radio City as we are introducing various innovations. Varma will be leading a set of highly charged creative people at Radio City. He will play an active role in taking our radio station to the next stage of development.”

Varma started his career 15 years ago, in client servicing, at Franksimoes Advertising, where he spent two years. He moved on to Madison Media (then Madison Advertising) and worked on brands such as Cinthol and Godrej.

Two years later, he started his own ad agency, Touche Advertising, where he spent 10 years promoting television shows – including ‘Jeeto Chappad Phaad Ke’ and ‘Raj Kapoor: Showman of the Millennium’ – for channels such as Sony, STAR Plus, Hungama, NGC and BBC. Varma has also worked for UTV, having joined there in 2003.

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