It’s not just the world of politics that is changing in India, the Indian journalistic landscape is shifting fast as well. On May 28, 2014, news broke of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) approving funding of up to Rs 4,000 crore to Independent Media Trust (IMT) to acquire controlling stake in Network 18. While the financials of the deal have been reported amply (and exhaustively by Mint and Business Standard), the behind-the-scenes impact of this total buyout on Network 18 is still unclear. It’s important to note that the seeds of this transaction were sown at least two years back and the takeover was always imminent. The “when” of it was the question – but news reports have chosen (rather conspicuously) to ignore that aspect.

Newslaundry spoke to a number of people who are/have been part of the IBN newsroom to join the dots and possibly get some clarity on what exactly transpired in the days immediately preceding and succeeding May 29. Here Newslaundry answers some questions that everyone who even remotely cares about the Indian media is asking.

Who is the new board and has the old board been disbanded completely?

Yes, the incumbent board – consisting of Manoj Mohanka, Hari S Bhartia, Sanjay Ray Chaudhuri, Raghav Bahl, Subhash Bahl and Vandana Malik – has been completely dissolved. Insiders suggest that this is the reason behind the resignations of the Network 18 Group Chief Executive Officer B Sai Kumar, Chief Operating Officer Ajay Chacko and Chief Financial Officer RDS Bawa. The trio – all of whom quit in a span of less than 48 hours – weren’t willing to report to a new board, sources told Newslaundry.

RIL, however, refused to answer any of our queries regarding the new board. Tushar Pania, Vice President – RIL said, “We’re not in a position to answer questions on that currently”. Pania also refused to entertain any of our queries regarding Rajdeep Sardesai and Raghav Bahl.

Was Raghav Bahl fired?

This is the second-most intriguing question about this episode. Was Bahl – the man who literally built the group from scratch – asked to leave? Two independent sources Newslaundry spoke to, answered in the affirmative. According to a highly placed source (no report is complete without journalistic jargon), Mukesh Ambani made it clear that he wanted Bahl out. According to a separate source, an extensive internal performance review of the group was carried out in March this year. The review, we are told, threw up numbers (of CNN-IBN’s market share and TAM ratings) which didn’t please Mukesh Ambani one bit. It was then that it was decided that RIL would play a more hands-on role in the day-to-day functioning of the company. Additionally, it was also agreed upon that the process would begin after the Lok Sabha election. The newsroom was told that Bahl would hang on till the end of July to ensure a smooth transition.

That, however, was not to be.

On Thursday, May 29, Ritu Kapur – Raghav Bahl’s wife (and Head Programming, A+E Networks, TV18), came to office and announced it was her last day. This was unexpected and took all by surprise.  Soon, Raghav Bahl also announced his departure.

In their joint farewell note, the Bahls wrote that the company is in “good hands” and that Mukesh Ambani is a “visionary”. The RIL press release doesn’t extend the same complimentary tone to the Bahls, since they aren’t even mentioned in it. That is somewhat striking since one would expect at least a note of gratitude to the founder of the company (and a brand that Bahl was instrumental in building) which was being bought out. No savoir faire here.

What about Rajdeep Sardesai?

There is conjecture that the other person Ambani wanted out initially was Rajdeep Sardesai. Another version from sources, states that Rajdeep’s head was never supposed to roll and it still will not. He will be back to take over the role and responsibility of Editor-in-Chief of CNN-IBN. This is reportedly because, Ambani believes, the credibility of the group would dip if Rajdeep left too.

While Scroll carried a story on the takeover, headlined “Rajdeep and Sagarika to resign as Reliance takes over Network 18”, it is unlikely that things would be as simple as that. According to a source working in a senior managerial position in the group, Rajdeep is not too keen on leaving. According to another source in the newsroom (and confirmed by Hindustan Times), Rajdeep will be on leave for at least a month. Rajdeep, we’ve been told, will be using the time to visit Brazil to watch the football World Cup and write a book on the elections. Of course Rajdeep has added to the speculation with his cryptic tweets and curious announcement on air that he “is glued to his chair till the May 16 and we’ll see after that”. Whether this is a serious pontification of moving on or just negotiating tricks, we’ll all know soon enough.

Sources also said that it’s almost certain that Indian news viewers will have to bid adieu to Sagarika Ghose and Face The Nation – whether or not Rajdeep remains Editor-In-Chief. And this has nothing to do with her aversion to Modi, but everything to do with her low TRPs.

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In another and more recent development, Shekhar Gupta, Indian Express’ Editor-in-Chief has reportedly quit. While the rumour mills about Gupta exiting IE have been doing the rounds for some time, it seems the exit has finally happened. Sources at IE told us that Gupta’s decision has to do with Anant Goenka– son of Vivek Goenka and publisher IE. Anant Goenka, who is “Wholetime Director & Head – New Media” at IE is known to be in charge of the paper’s online content. Anant (confirmed by another independent source) reportedly sought more involvement in the main newspaper – something that had created a fair amount of friction between Gupta and him, finally leading to Gupta quitting.

Many news professional are guessing that Gupta is set to join India Today as the Editorial Director or Vice Chairman. Sources at India Today told Newslaundry that Gupta’s arrival was “imminent”.

And just for good measure to add to more confusion there are those in media circles who claim that Shekhar Gupta will move to IBN, once Rajdeep vacates. But then, Rajdeep might not vacate anything at all so… The good thing about reporting the news is you don’t have to be right or consistent.

The jostle for Cabinet berths in the new government may be over, but the race for senior editorial positions in the world of Indian journalism seems to only be getting fiercer. Whether the two are connected, “only time will tell”. It’s fair that a story replete with journalistic clichés ends with another one, no?

Update:  According to an independent and highly placed source within Network 18, the recent developments have more to do with RIL seeking more managerial control (and possibly editorial at a later stage) than CNN-IBN’s TRPs.  The same source has also revealed that last year’s salary cuts were mandated by Network 18’s management on the advice of Ernst and Young and not by Mukesh Ambani (as the popular media narrative goes).

Author’s Note: This article will be updated as when more developments come to light.