Arnab Goswami quits as editor-in-chief of Times Now

Said to be planning to start his own news venture

Popular prime-time news debate host Arnab Goswami was learnt to have resigned as the editor-in-chief of Times Now, The News Minute reported on Tuesday. The move, apparently in favour of turning an entrepreneur and starting his own venture, came after several days of murmurs about his likely exit, the report added.

According to some employees of Times Now who did not wish to be named, Goswami told the editorial team that he believed in the media and would continue in the television business. Many sources in the organisation said he might start a news channel with politician and entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar and American media baron Rupert Murdoch. It was also rumoured that Goswami might join the popular UK news organisation, Fox News.

Some sources in Times Now said Goswami might have been in touch with another organisation for at least six months to start a new digital venture. They added that many people from Times Now might follow him. "In Goswami's words,' they said, the new project will be "a formidable competition to CNN and BBC".  
 

The editor-in-chief and president, news, Times Now and ET Now, Goswami has been anchoring popular news shows on Times Now since 2006. His talk show ‘The Newshour’, according to Exchange for Media, has enjoyed over 70% share of the prime-time audience for the past 8 years.

 
Exchange for Media adds: "Goswami has led Times Now to leadership in less than a year of the launch of the channel in 2006. Since 2007, he has maintained and increased the dominance of Times Now." His interview-based show ‘Frankly Speaking with Arnab’ is one of the most followed interview on television.

As editor-in-chief of Times Now, Goswami is known to have popularised a new brand of news coverage, criticised by some for its high-decibel arguments.

Soon after the word of his resignation came out, microblogging site Twitter was abuzz with posts on 'Times Now' and 'Arnab Goswami'. These two topics were among the top trending topics on Tuesday evening.