BBC Advertising, part of BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has announced the appointment of Vishal Bhatnagar as Sales Director for South Asia.

Vishal will lead the advertising sales teams across BBC Worldwide’s three South Asia sales offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, with immediate effect.  He will be based in Delhi and will report to John Williams, Vice President Advertising Sales, ASEAN & India.

Vishal will be responsible for domestic and international advertising sales for BBC Advertising’s digital and broadcasts assets in South Asia, including the multi-screen product offer around the world-renowned website BBC.com and the global TV channel BBC World News.

Vishal joins BBC Advertising from Network18 News Media, for whom he has worked for since 2004, most recently as National Revenue Head for CNN-IBN and Head of Focus-IBN 18 News Network. In that role, Vishal led a cross-functional team spanning Sales, Marketing, Content and Digital to create, execute and monetise award-winning initiatives like IBN18-Microsoft Election Analytics Centre and Network 18-Tata Tea Power of 49 among others. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, where he launched CNBC Universe as a sales platform. Before working for Network18 News Media, Vishal held roles at Times Television and Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

Commenting on his appointment, John Williams said, “Vishal brings with him a proven track record in business development across traditional and new media in the highly dynamic and fast moving Indian national market, and we are delighted to welcome him to BBC Advertising. As we look to drive future growth across South Asia, Vishal’s experience in leading teams, coupled with the premium content opportunities offered by the BBC, will be invaluable.”

Vishal Bhatnagar said, “I am thrilled to be joining BBC Advertising and have the chance to offer partners in South Asia opportunities to be associated with world-class, trusted content from the BBC on TV and online. I’m looking forward to working with the teams in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore and building new business relationships across the region.”