Varun Kohli exits Times Network after a year; Rohit Gopakumar given interim charge

New Delhi: Times Network on Thursday witnessed the sudden exit of its chief operating officer, Varun Kohli, who joined the company a little more than a year ago.

The network has given Rohit Gopakumar interim charge of its broadcast business, sources confirmed. Gopakumar, who joined as Worldwide Media CEO in August 2023, is currently serving as CEO, Entertainment and Digital Business, at The Times Group.

The exit comes just a year after the departure of its former CEO, M.K. Anand. Anand quit in July last year after spending over a decade at Bennett, Coleman & Co. (BCCL).

A month earlier, in June 2024, Kohli was brought in as COO to handle the revenue function for the television broadcast business.

He had joined Times Network from a newly launched Hindi news channel, Bharat Express, where he was Director and CEO for a year and a half.

Prior to Bharat Express, Kohli spent about 10 months as CEO at Sporty Media Solutionz.

Kohli’s past associations include iTV Network (Group CEO), Network18, HT Media, and Amar Ujala Prakashan, among others.

Without speculating about the reasons for the sudden exit, industry sources told BestMediaInfo that the development also reflects revenue pressure on news networks in volatile market conditions.