Mumbai: Arup Roy has joined Network18 Group as business and product head of News18 Local.

He will drive all aspects of business and work closely with editorial, technology and monetisation teams to accomplish the same.

“The hyperlocal content roll out is one of the most important strategic initiatives for News18,” said the statement. “Over the past year, we have ramped up to get coverage across 100 districts. The traction that this content is driving is also quite encouraging. Over a period of time, it will be a big determinant of audience growth for News18 network and will be value accretive overall by driving newer audience, engagement and monetization models.”

Roy has more than 17 years of experience building and managing diverse consumer-facing products. He was earlier associated with Hindustan Times Digital as the chief product officer where he successfully grew user engagement and monetisation across all digital properties. Prior to that, he was with Info Edge (Naukri.com) & Times Internet, where he was instrumental in building & managing multiple products in the entertainment and lifestyle space like ETimes, Times Food and Bombay Times Digital, among others. He completed his MBA from ENPC, France and has a Bachelor's degree from IP University. He is a technology and automobile enthusiast.

Roy lives in Delhi with his wife Aradhana, who is a yoga practitioner and teacher. She is currently building a Yoga-based start-up in the US remotely.