iHeartMedia has announced that AJ Punjabi will move from Charleston SC to San Francisco as Market President.
Punjabi joined iHeart in July 2020 after spending his career at Cox Media Group. He served as General Sales Manager for Cox Miami from 2015 to 2020 after previously rising through the ranks of the company’s Atlanta operations as Account Executive, Senior Digital Strategist, Digital Strategy Manager and Digital Sales Manage between 2006 and 2015.
Punjabi succeeds Kathryn Wilcox, who had served as San Francisco based Northern California Region President since 2014.
iHeartMedia announced today that AJ Punjabi has been named Market President for San Francisco, effective immediately. iHeartMedia San Francisco has a strong cross-platform presence and includes a number of iconic brands and franchises — both broadcast and digital — encompassing six stations comprised of music, talk and news formats.
iHeartMedia has the leading consumer reach and influence across multiple platforms and delivers more live programming than any other media company. As Market President, Punjabi will be responsible for leading the culture and strategic direction of the San Francisco operation to deepen the relationships with both their listening audiences and their advertising partners. He will report to Scott Hopeck, Division President for iHeartMedia.
“AJ is a talent-focused leader with exceptional digital experience, which will serve him well in the Bay Area, where he will lead a talented team of creators and sales professionals,” said Hopeck. “I’m excited for AJ to begin working with his team and our partners!”
Punjabi takes the helm in San Francisco from iHeartMedia’s Charleston market, where he most recently served as the Market President and enterprise leader of the Blockchain/Crypto/NFT category. He began his career with COX Media, where he spent over 13 years in roles including sales management and digital strategy. Punjabi is a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington.
“I’m beyond grateful to the executive management team at iHeartMedia for entrusting me with one of our most critical operations,” said Punjabi. “iHeartMedia San Francisco’s strong commitment to exceptional programming, as well as its scalable, diverse marketing solutions, will give us distinct competitive advantages and enable us to continue to provide outstanding service to our audiences, advertisers, and the communities that rely on us. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves with some of the industry’s sharpest minds and create outcomes that will help iHeartMedia San Francisco further solidify its position as a market leader.”
