Radha Subramanyam, who built iHeartMedia’s data and analytics division and went on to become one of television’s most respected research and audience measurement executives at CBS, has died at 55 following a battle with cancer.
After being recruited from Nielsen by Bob Pittman in 2012, Subramanyam led iHeartMedia’s transformation into a data-driven audio company, first as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Research and later as President of Insights, Research, and Data Analytics. Between 2013 and 2016, Radio Ink named her one of the Most Influential Women in Radio four times, featuring her on the November 2013 cover under the headline “When She Speaks, Pittman and [John] Hogan Listen.”
She joined CBS in 2017, rising to Chief Research and Analytics Officer and President of CBS Vision, where she oversaw audience measurement, program testing, and advertising research.
Before her time in radio, Subramanyam held senior analytics roles at Nielsen, Yahoo!, MTV Networks, Comedy Central, and NBCUniversal. A Northwestern University Ph.D. in Radio-TV-Film, she began her career teaching at Vassar College and New York University.
