Ex-Sahara Samay head Ambikanand Sahay joins S1 as head, news operations

Ambikanand Sahay has joined Delhi-based news channel, S1 as head, news operations. For the record, Sahay had quit news channel Sahara Samay around three months back, where he was senior vice-president.

Talking about this development to agencyfaqs!, Sahay says, “S1 is a fast expanding channel, with quite a few major plans in the pipeline. I felt that the time was ripe to join it.”

Adding to that, Vijay Dixit, senior group chairman and CEO, S1, says, “Sahay has worked for big names such as The Times Group and Sahara Samay. We were impressed with his portfolio. Currently, S1 has its presence in Delhi, but we plan to make it a national channel within the next month or so.”

The channel will spread its network over several cities in India, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The channel is also planning on introducing a new programming mix. Details on this are still being worked on.

Sahay started his career in journalism, way back in 1972, with Kolkata-based English daily, The Statesman. His next move was in 1991, when he joined The Times of India, Lucknow, as resident editor. After seven years, Sahay moved to Delhi, where he was a political analyst with The Times Group. In 2003, he left The TOI Group to join Sahara Samay.

For the record, S1, which was launched in August this year, belongs to the Delhi-based Senior Group of Companies. A company recording a turnover of Rs 3,500 crore, The Senior Group of Companies also has a fortnightly magazine in Hindi, ‘Senior India’, and will launch its English version soon. The Group is also planning to launch a music-based television channel, ‘S1 Tadka’ which will have an all-India reach.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!