Ever since Arnab Goswami moved on to start his so-called independent news venture Republic TV, Times Now has been trying to reinvent itself in order to compete with its former chief.

This has meant replacing Goswami with Rahul Shivshankar — who we, at Newslaundry, like to call Arnab Lite — to keep up the high standards set by the former voice of the nation on Times Now. In another move that may not be as cosmetic as getting Shivshankar on board, the channel may now shift its headquarters from Mumbai closer to the national capital.

Well-placed sources in Times Now said the channel would be shifting its headquarters from Mumbai to Noida. “Earlier it was to happen by October 15, but now they are aiming at December 15,” said Raj*, an employee in the coordination team of the channel. Newslaundry spoke to employees of the channel who said they have been officially informed about the move in a short meeting held by Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) MK Anand last week.

As it is with any big channel with a huge team making such a move, this would involve operational costs of shifting its employees, besides reorganising its infrastructural set-up. “They have told us that people who will face problems during the shift will be compensated,” said Ragini*, another employee working in the production team. But not all employees will be shifted. Sources informed us that nearly 70 per cent of the staff will be accommodated in the Noida office, while the rest 30 per cent will either make up the Mumbai bureau or move to its sister channels that will continue to operate from Mumbai (ET Now, Mirror Now, Zoom). Nevertheless, all employees unequivocally held that the channel has committed to do all it can to make the shift smooth and comfortable for everyone without laying off anyone.

“Initially, the employees will be lodged in the company guest house for a few weeks until we find a place to stay,” said Karol* who works on the input desk and is very keen on moving from Mumbai to Noida. “I am very excited. I was contemplating on quitting the job because I wanted to move to Delhi but now that my company is moving I’m very happy that I don’t have to look for other jobs,” Karol* said.

Another employee said the move may have to do with moving closer to the political capital of the country. “I guess they want to move to the news capital,” said an employee. Another employee said, “I think it is a cost-cutting move” and added that the channel had reduced a sizeable amount of OB vans over time.

“The channel had over 20 OB vans nation-wide,” said another employee, who didn’t wish to be identified and added that currently Times Now has four OB vans left in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. “They (the channel) reduced the number in a phased manner and switched to LiveU,” the employee said. LiveU is a portable live broadcasting unit which can be carried as a backpack or a belt-clip and uses the signal of a dongle connected to uplink videos directly to the studios. It is not only more mobile and compact, but also easy to operate.

Of course, one of the biggest reasons for Times Now to stay put in Mumbai had been Goswami, who makes no bones about his disdain for Lutyens’ Delhi media. “Boss [Goswami] hates Delhi and loves Mumbai,” said an ex-employee who still addresses Goswami as “boss”, and added that Goswami would never move to Delhi.

Another ex-employee who worked during the launch phase of the channel said it was launched in Mumbai because the Times headquarters is in Mumbai and the then chief Goswami wanted everything to be in Mumbai.

Newslaundry reached out to the channel’s Editor-in-Chief Rahul Shivshankar, Managing Editor Navika Kumar and MD and CEO MK Anand to know more details about the move. This piece will be updated if and when they choose to respond.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

The author can be contacted on Twitter @shrutimenon10