Ajay Chacko calls it a day at Network18

He was COO, Network18 and president, A+E Networks I TV18. He quits the company after a stint of more than a decade.

Ajay Chacko, COO, Network18 and president, A+E Networks | TV18, has decided to move on from the company.

The news comes close on the heels of the announcement of Network18 group CEO, B Sai Kumar's exit from the company.

Chacko had joined Network18 in 2003 as head, marketing for its English business news channel, CNBC-TV18.

As mentioned on the network's website, Chacko's role as COO was to ensure operating efficiencies and margins across businesses. In this role, he actively supported management teams across functions in leveraging the network's diverse strengths and institutionalised processes and models that unleashed value across the group and its ventures.

He was also mandated with strengthening the business planning and monitoring processes as well as other critical support and staff functions across the group. Additionally, at A+E Networks I TV18, a joint venture between TV18 and A+E Networks, he was responsible for the operational, strategic and financial management of the joint venture and its suite of channels and services.

In his earlier roles at Network18, Chacko has led many of the group's businesses such as CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and Forbes India and has been instrumental in their ascendance as market leading media brands in the country.

He has also led the group's efforts in the business media domain as well as the successful launches of key digital properties of Network18. He has been responsible for the functioning of the JV between A+E Networks and TV18, now a key player in the Indian factual entertainment space with HistoryTV18 emerging as a top tier brand in the genre.

Before joining Network18, Chacko worked in financial services and media for more than a decade. His earlier stints were with IL&FS (Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services, India); he has also been a part of the start-up team at Sharekhan. He started his career in 1996 with the Indian Express Group, where he worked in various capacities. Later, he worked in the financial services sector between 1999 and 2003.

Chacko is a management graduate from the Dept. of Management Studies, University of Pune. He also has a management qualification from IIM Bangalore.