Avinash Kaul’s decision to step away from his executive role at Network 18 marks the conclusion of a stint in his career that has run parallel to some of the most defining phases of Indian broadcast media over the past three decades.
With 27 years in the industry and nearly half of that time spent in CEO-level leadership positions, Kaul stands among the few media executives who consistently combined scale, stability and institutional thinking in a sector shaped by constant change.
Avinash Kaul resigns; likely to move on from Network18 soon
Most recently, as Chief Executive Officer – Broadcast & Publishing at Network18 and Managing Director of A+E Networks | TV18, Kaul oversaw the country’s largest news network. The portfolio comprised 20 news channels across 16 languages, reaching more than 700 million viewers annually. His tenure coincided with a phase when news broadcasting was grappling simultaneously with fragmentation, digitisation and heightened scrutiny, making operational discipline and strategic clarity critical. Avinash Kaul has been a backbone and bulwark of the broadcast and publishing business at Network 18.
At Network18, which he joined in 2014, Kaul played a central role in strengthening broadcast operations while aligning them more closely with publishing and digital ecosystems. His leadership approach emphasised scale with structure—ensuring that growth was supported by robust systems, audience intelligence and revenue discipline. Rather than chasing short-term disruption, his focus remained on building sustainable media businesses capable of withstanding cyclical pressures. Avinash Kaul’s turnaround reputation has been re-affirmed by the results he delivered at Network 18.
Kaul’s influence extended beyond the organisations he led. He served as a board member of the Media Research Users Council, overseeing the Indian Readership Survey, one of the most important benchmarks for print advertising in India. He was also associated with the Broadcast Audience Research Council as a member of its Extended Technical Committee, contributing to the ongoing refinement of television measurement systems.
His role on the Managing Committee of The Advertising Club reflected a broader engagement with industry-wide conversations on media, marketing and measurement.
Before Network18, Kaul held senior leadership positions across some of India’s most prominent media companies. As CEO of the TV division at Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., he was responsible for steering television operations during a period of rapid expansion and professionalisation. His earlier stints included leadership roles at Sahara One Entertainment & Media, NDTV Media, Star India and Discovery Communications, giving him hands-on experience across research, planning, strategy, marketing and business operations. This breadth allowed him to develop a rare, holistic understanding of how content, audiences and revenue intersect across platforms.
Colleagues have often described Kaul as a collaborative leader who valued data-driven decision-making and cross-functional alignment. His management style encouraged teams to think long-term, remain adaptive and respond to audience behaviour with intelligence rather than instinct alone. In an era when media leadership has increasingly demanded fluency across content, technology and analytics, his skill set proved both relevant and enduring.
As Avinash Kaul exits the corner office, he leaves behind more than a list of titles. His career reflects the steady institutionalisation of Indian media—from fragmented channels to large, multi-language networks, and from intuition-led programming to analytics-informed strategy. It is a legacy defined by continuity, credibility and the quiet work of building systems that last.
Avinash Kaul’s next move will be eagerly looked forward by the industry. For a boy who left Kashmir at the age of 17 at the height of insurgency and militancy, Avinash Kaul has come a long way. Avinash Kaul has built organisations, built careers and nurtured leaders within the organisations he was worked and led. Avinash Kaul s next move is not known but it is believed he has been approached by large media and tech players to lead their operations and also to serve on the board of these large enterprises. One thing is sure wherever Avinash Kaul goes he will create value and will be a transformational leader leading a humanistic organisation.