Mumbai: TV9 Network has announced the appointment of former India Today managing editor Sandeep Unnithan as the editor of News9 Plus, the recently announced video magazine OTT service by the network.
In this role, Unnithan will be responsible for all day-to-day news and editorial reportage at News9 Plus, for rich perspectives, narratives, and debates in a video on demand format, said the media company in a statement. "He will report to TV9 Network CEO Barun Das and TV9 Network group editor B V Rao," it added.
Unnithanr bings with him a wealth of editorial experience with in-depth reporting on defence and strategic affairs. He is the author of "Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11" and the co-author of "Operation X" - a non-fiction book on India's covert Naval operations during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
“With Sandeep on board, his rich experience in writing and editing long form stories will play out on the richness of our editorial content,” said Barun Das CEO TV9 Network. “Sandeep will add gravitas, diversity and immersive storytelling that the English news audience deserves. We are confident that quality content will attract quality subscribers. At News9 Plus, we are going to make content a 'want' and not just a 'need'. You would 'want' to keep coming back.”
"This seems like the idea of the decade - where my past experience of long form reportage and storytelling for an evolved audience converge in a future-ready OTT avatar. News9 Plus is the future and I'm excited to help shape it," said Sandeep Unnithan.
"News9 Plus needs an editor who understands the pulse of the English-speaking audience - what we define as the GenFlix,” said TV9 Network group editor BV Rao. “The content that GenFlix would like to watch and eventually pay for will define News9 Plus as a differentiated news product. Sandeep and his team will drive that content differentiation for GenFlix."
TV9 Network has made another key hire for News9 Plus in Sandhya Ravishankar, award winning journalist from the south, who specializes in investigation. She won the Ramnath Goenka award in 2018 for her seven year-long reportage on beach sand mining.
Aditya, who has earlier worked with CNN News 18, Times Now and Republic TV, will man the intersection of internal security, terrorism and diplomacy at News9 Plus.
News9 Plus will launch at the end of March 2022 on Web, Android and iOS marketplaces. Integrations on connected TVs and smart devices will follow soon thereafter, said the statement.
