NDTV denies reports of takeover by SpiceJet owner

BY : News Gateway / NDTV / New Delhi /

Sources in NDTV have denied reports of SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh taking over majority holding in the news channel. A formal statement on the issue is expected by Friday evening.

It was reported that New Delhi Television Limited, one of the oldest news channels that was founded by Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy in 1988, will change hands soon. The reports mentioned that the founders will be reduced as minority shareholders with merely 20 per cent shares, while Mr. Singh will have 40 per cent shares.

The last few months have been eventful for NDTV. On June 5, the CBI raided the residences of the Roys. Calling them a “blatant attack on the freedom of the press,” NDTV, in a statement, said the CBI filed its FIR based on a “shoddy complaint” by a “disgruntled” former NDTV consultant, who has not obtained a “single order from the courts.”

In November last, former Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu imposed a one-day ban on NDTV for its coverage of the Pathankot air base attack. The government claimed that NDTV imperiled national security by broadcasting the sensitive details about the air base. The ban was, however, put on hold after strong protests from the journalists’ union and the Supreme Court’s decision