Will Rahul Chandran and Aanchal Johar eventually move on from Times Network or stay on?

Times Network is witnessing senior-level churn within its branded content leadership team, with senior executives Rahul Chandran and Aanchal Johar resigning a couple of days ago. They both recently resigned from their respective roles as Associate Vice Presidents. 

Gaurav Dewani  joined as the head of Branded Content from NDTV a few months ago. We at e4m were the first to report that. Gaurav Dewani is an accomplished professional; however, this new alignment caused some concerns. 

Read e4m report on Gaurav Dewani’s appointment

After speaking with the company's management and several industry sources, exchange4media has learnt that Rahul Chandran's resignation has been accepted and he is on his notice period. Rahul is likely to move on and join a non-news organisation 

When contacted, Times Network confirmed Chandran's exit. The e4m edit team reached out to the top management and Ruchira Srivastava, Head of HR. They denied the news, which is a standard practice for top management to avoid commenting or blocking the story. However, exchange4media has learnt that while Rahul Chandran's resignation has been accepted, the company is trying to retain Associate Vice President Aanchal Johar, who has also submitted her resignation.

Ruchira Srivastava, Head of HR at Times Network, responded to e4m editors. "Retaining conversations are happening. Please don't publish anything."

Let us at e4m decode this for our readers.

According to people familiar with the matter, Chandran is expected to join another media company in a non-news domain, although an official announcement regarding his next move is awaited.

There is also speculation that Gaurav Dewani is moving on from the company, a claim that top management and Gaurav Dewani himself have denied to e4m. There is a rumour that Gaurav Dewani was not happy with the meat in his role. Gaurav wants the same role as Mihir Bhatt which includes content responsibility, but he has not been given it yet. Gaurav Dewani also wants more freedom to hire his own team and senior leaders for his branded content team, and to assign roles and targets to the current team as he wants. Chandran and Johar resigned. While the top management has categorically told e4m that Gaurav has not resigned, there is no smoke without fire. 

Sources have further told exchange4media that Gaurav Dewani submitted his resignation a couple of days ago. While the company did not comment on this development, industry sources said Dewani, who joined Times Network during a recent structural realignment, is likely to move on if his demands for expanding his role and selecting his team members are not accepted. However at such levels, top management and HR keep things under wraps until it's finalised and sealed. Such discussions and negotiations always involve give and take and finality requires many rounds of discussion.

The real story is that if Gaurav Dewani moves on, Aanchal will stay.

The top management and HR must make an either/or choice. If Gaurav stays, these two move on and if Gaurav moves on, at least Aanchal Johar may stay on.

If Gaurav Dewani moves on, Rajesh Madampath, Executive VP Times Television, may be considered for the role of head of Branded Content. Rajesh Madampath previously held the role for which Gaurav Dewani was hired. Rajesh Madampath is currently overseeing pickleball and government, and new initiatives directly working with N. Subramanium, Executive Director, on pickleball and new initiatives, and on government with Ashish Sehgal, CEO, Times Television Network.

Chandran concludes a seven-and-a-half-year stint with Times Network. Elevated to Associate Vice President – Branded Content in October 2023, he previously served as Region Head – Branded Content since January 2019. During his tenure, he led branded content initiatives, developed customised content solutions for advertisers and played a key role in driving integrated revenue opportunities.

Before joining Times Network, Chandran was Region Head at Hindustan Times between 2016 and 2019. Earlier, he spent close to a decade at CNBC-TV18 in leadership roles, focusing on advertiser-funded programming and customised content. His career also includes stints at Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., along with earlier roles associated with Xbox 360 and BPL Mobile.

Aanchal Johar currently oversees branded content for North and East, network intellectual properties (IPs) and special projects at Times Network. She assumed the Associate Vice President role in October 2024 after rejoining the organisation.

She brings nearly two decades of experience across media sales, branded content and strategic partnerships. Before returning to Times Network, Johar served as Assistant Vice President at Zee Media Corporation, where she led strategic partnerships, branded content, reputation management and IP sales across Zee News, Zee Business and WION.

Earlier, she was Deputy General Manager at India Today Group, overseeing IP sales and content solutions. She had also previously worked at Times Network as Deputy General Manager and Region Head, driving IP sales and regional business growth. Over the course of her career, Johar has also held roles at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, 9X Media, The Walt Disney Company India, Live India and NDTV.

Buzz is that Aanchal Johar may join Mihir Bhatt in his new organisation and is discussing a potential role with News18 Studios. This is one of the few roles Aaanchal is discussing outside Times Network.

With one resignation confirmed, another under discussion and indications of a third senior exit, the branded content function at Times Network appears to be entering a fresh phase of transition.

Stay tuned to e4m for further updates.