Varun Kohli has stepped down from the role of Chief Operating Officer- News Broadcasting Business at Times Network, marking a significant leadership change in the company’s news division.
Highly placed sources have confirmed the news to Marketing Mind. Following his departure, The Times Group has appointed Rohit Gopakumar, Chief Executive Officer of Entertainment and Digital Business, as the interim head of its News Broadcasting business, effective immediately.
This marks the conclusion of Kohli’s tenure as COO, which he had held since June 2024. Prior to joining Times Network, he had served as Chief Executive Officer at Bharat Express from January 2023 to June 2024. Before that, he had been CEO at Sporty Media Solutionz from April 2022 to January 2023.
Kohli had also spent over seven years at iTV Network in various leadership roles, including Group CEO from March 2017 to March 2022, CEO- India News from September 2015 to March 2017 and COO and Revenue Head from February 2014 to September 2015. His earlier stints had included senior roles at TV18 Broadcast, DNA Newspapers, Mogae Media, Mail Today Newspapers, Bennett Coleman & Company, Deccan Chronicle, Amar Ujala, and Hindustan Times.
Gopakumar has been serving as CEO- Times Network and Worldwide Media since August 2023, in addition to leading the Group’s entertainment and digital businesses. He had earlier held the position of Chief Operating Officer at Optimal Media Solutions (Times Group) / Brand Extensions from March 2013 to August 2023.
Prior to this, he had been VP- South Asia at BBC Advertising, BBC Worldwide from January 2012 to March 2013 and held senior leadership roles at AIDEM, NDTV Media, Star India, and The Times of India.
