• Broadcaster and digital publisher looking for new head of digital for the next phase of development
• Solanki leaves SCA with twice the digital audience of any radio competitor
Southern Cross Austereo chief executive Grant Blackley updated staff today about the progress of the digital transformation of the business.
Blackley told staff: “We started this [digital transformation] process by moving digital sales into the sales function enabling more sales teams to trade digital. Our new The Studio initiative will also help accelerate this. “In parallel, we have also moved digital content back into the content team. We have built a culture where all content teams recognise that content creation includes website, social, video content in addition to audio content.”
Blackley added that given the business has achieved its original aims, SCA chief digital officer Vijay Solanki will be leaving the company.
Solanki told his colleagues, “I’m really proud to have played my part in driving digital transformation as part of the SCA digital journey. The strategy was always about enabling the entire business to step up in digital. Over the last year, we have built great products including RadioApp, mobile apps and websites, products like Facebook Live and initiatives like Omny Studio and A2X.
“The crescendo has been the recent Nielsen digital result showing SCA’s digital audience to be twice the size of any radio competitor. My team have been awesome.”
SCA hired Vijay Solanki as its head of digital last February, replacing Clive Dickens when he left SCA for Seven. Solanki subsequently started work in May 2015. In the period between his signing and his arrival, SCA changed leaders, with Blackley replacing Rhys Holleran.
Solanki relocated to Australia with his family from Amsterdam last year where Solanki was a senior director for global digital innovation at Phillips’ head office.
Solanki told Mediaweek that he and his family enjoy living in Australia and they plan to stay. He will be looking for a new career challenge after the arrival of a new head of digital.