BV Rao’s emotional farewell speech at TV9 explains why he quit

Over the past few weeks TV9 Network has seen some high profile exits. It started with the resignation of Shailesh Chaturvedi, Editor (Digital) Hindi which was reported by samachar4media on 31st May, 2022. Chaturvedi was associated with the network for close to four years.

A week after Chaturvedi’s resignation, BV Rao, Group Editor of TV Network also quit. He joined TV9 in 2019 from Firstpost.com. On Tuesday 7th June 2022, Rao bid an emotional farewell to TV9.

In a video that e4m has accessed, the reason behind these resigniations is clear. In the 2 min 50 sec video, BV Rao said that Shailesh Chaturvedi was told to leave after the traffic came down to 30 million from 60 million.

“The business conversations will keep on happening. I feel sorry about the injustice meted to Sailesh.  So far I had given another reason for my resignation  because I had no control over the circumstances”, Rao told his colleagues in the video.

Rao also questioned the management for not taking a stand in favour of its editors. He also raised questions about the way in which Chaturvedi was solely blamed for the dip in traffic.

“At 60 million he (Shailesh) was crowned for his achievements and when the traffic reached 30 million he was told to go. The question is: was he alone responsible for 30 million.  There are 20 other people who are accountable for this number.  I apologise to Shailesh for not being able to stand for him.  I would say, show your editor respect”

In his career of over three decades, Rao has worked across all leading media houses like The Times Group, Express Group, Zee News and India Today Group among others. Shailesh Chaturvedi work spans over two decades in news and sports media across some of the most prestigious organisations in print, electronic and digital including Amar Ujala, Hindustan, Sahara Samay and Network 18 among others.