MUMBAI: NDTV group CEO and executive vice chairperson KVL Narayan Rao passed away at 8am today. Suffering from cancer, he was 63 years old.

His funeral is scheduled at 9.30 pm at Lodhi auditorium

In October 2016, Narayan Rao was reappointed for a second tenure as NDTV’s group CEO replacing Vikram Chandra, in addition to his responsibilities as executive vice chairperson. 

Narayan Rao started his career as a journalist with the Indian Express before joining the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), wherein he held several important appointments during his tenure from 1979-1994.

Narayan Rao had joined NDTV in January 1995 looking after human resources, administration and operations of IRS.

He was invited to join the board of NDTV in 1998 and had been its executive director since then. He was appointed group CEO in 2007 and executive vice chairperson in August 2011. A former president of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), Rao was also on the board of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). He has been VP of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA). He also served as a member of the FICCI Entertainment Committee as well as a member of the CII National Committee on Media and Entertainment.