Patel Named EVP, SmartAudio @ iHeart

• Research maven Hetal Patel has returned to iHeartMedia as the newly named Executive Vice President of SmartAudio® Intelligence Insights. In her new role, Patel will lead the SmartAudio® Intelligence Insights team to create research and insights that shape iHeartMedia’s value proposition. Her responsibilities will include providing critical consumer insights, market intelligence and industry trends to iHeartMedia teams, markets and executives by leveraging expertise in areas such as audience analysis, advertising sales metrics and media and digital consumer research. Patel will also work closely with iHeartMedia’s partners on the development of next-generation analytics, techniques and products including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Sentiment Analysis and more.

Patel will report to Brian Kaminsky, President of SmartAudio® and Analytics Group for iHeartMedia, who commented, “With our groundbreaking tools like SmartAudio® and SoundPoint, and our recent acquisition of Jelli, iHeartMedia products and new capabilities are transforming how advertisers reach their core audiences. We’re thrilled that someone with Hetal’s extensive research background and intimate knowledge of iHeartMedia will be playing such a key role in developing our next generation of data driven advertising, attribution and ad effectiveness products.”

Patel most recently served as Head of Sales Research & Insights for Vox Media, but she previously spent four years as a member of iHeartMedia’s research team, rising to VP of Research, Insights & Analytics. She also worked at Radius GMR and KPMG Nunwood. She began her media career in 2006 as a research executive for The Nielsen Company, based in Mumbai, India.

“It really is the golden period of audio,” said Patel. “I’m thrilled to be returning to iHeartMedia where data and consumer are genuinely front and center, which means working on truly disruptive and future ready research initiatives designed to address the client and marketplace needs. It’s truly humbling and an honor to be a storyteller and voice for iHeartMedia.”