Sudhir Chaudhary, the editor-in-chief and CEO of Zee News, has resigned from the company. Reportedly, Chaudhary has resigned form the post of CEO of Cluster 1 at Zee Media Corporation to start his own venture.
A veteran of Indian TV journalism, Sudhir Chaudhary is leaving after working for a decade at Zee. However, it was his second stint at the company. He had joined Zee News during its initial years, but had left in 2003 to join Sahara Samay. He had also joined India TV for some time. In 2012 he returned to Zee News, where he was hosting his show Daily News & Analysis (DNA), one of the highest rated show on Hindi news channels.
In a statement, Zee Media said, “This is to formally inform that Sudhir Chaudhury, CEO Cluster 1 has resigned from his services at Zee Media Corporation Limited with immediate effect. Since Sudhir has the inclination to start his own venture, it is with a heavy heart that Zee Media has accepted it.”
Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Essel Group and Zee Media Mentor, stated in an internal email that he met with Sudhir Chaudhary twice in the previous two days to attempt to persuade him to stay. Subhash Chandra said in the email, “Since he is planning to start his own venture by utilizing his fan following, I did not want to come in his way of progression.” Chandra also intends to hold a goodbye dinner for Sudhir Chaudhary on July 8th at the Constitution Club.
Sudhir Chaudhary said in his resignation letter to Chandra that he had been contemplating beginning his own business for quite some time. In his resignation email, Sudhir Chaudhary wrote, “To start my own enterprise. I assure you that my proposed new venture (If successful) will make you happy and proud of me. My success will be a testimony to my learning over more than 15 years Two stints) at Zee.” He wrote in the resignation letter, “With heavy heart I have to say that ‘Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.’ But, Sir at the same time I would like to add that, I am seeking your blessings for parting ways from ZMCL.”
The resignation was being speculated for last couple of days, as Chaudhary had not hosted his show DNA for the last three days. The show was being hosted by Zee Hindustan anchor Rohit Ranjan. According to reports, Zee News is building a pool of new anchors from its different clusters as part of its fresh newsroom strategy.
With Chaudhary leaving, WION Editor will report directly to the Publisher, while the editors of Zee News, Zee Business, and Zee 24 Taas will report to the President – Group Strategy & Innovation.
Update: An earlier version of this report said that Zee Media Chief Business Officer Abhay Ojha will replace Sudhir Chaudhary, based on business media reports. But actually, Ojha passed away on June 18 following a cardiac arrest.
