Andhra Prabha Publication, a Telugu language daily newspaper, is all set to enter the broadcast space with the launch of an English news channel, India Ahead, owned by Goutam Mootha.
A highly placed source has confirmed the development to exchange4media.com. The channel is slated to launch by the first week of July.
Renowned journalist Chetan Sharma has been appointed by the network as CEO and Editorial Director for the channel. Previously, Sharma has worked with media houses such as Zee Business, NDTV and TV Today Network. Senior journalist Sanket Upadhyay has been roped in as Managing Editor for the upcoming news channel. Prior to joining India Ahead, he was working with CNN News18 as Deputy Executive Editor.
The channel’s head office is located in Hyderabad and the bureau office is in New Delhi with an employee strength of 60-70. Brijesh Nigam has been appointed as the Head- Business Strategy at India Ahead.
The network is also planning to launch a Telugu News channel.
We reached out to the network for an official comment, but they were unavailable.
Andhra Prabha was started in Chennai on August 15, 1938, by Ramnath Goenka’s Indian Express Group and published from the interior towns of Andhra Pradesh from the 1950s to challenge the prominence of the then leading Telugu newspaper, Andhra Patrika. In 1960, Andhra Prabha’s circulation was 53,000 for its two editions from Vijayawada and Chittoor. 10 years later, then publishing from Vijayawada and Bangalore, its circulation reached 1,16,000, vastly surpassing that of Andhra Patrika.
