Prannoy Roy (News Anchor)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Prannoy Roy

• Prannoy Roy, an Indian journalist, economist, psephologist, chartered accountant, and author, is recognised as the co-founder of New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV).

• He is credited for introducing opinion polls in India.

• According to sources, Prannoy Roy met Radhika when they were teenagers. They both went to London to pursue their higher education and got married there. They returned to India after completing their studies and settled down in Delhi.

• Roy was born to a Bengali father and an Irish mother. His father, popularly known as Hurricane Roy, was the Senior Executive at a multinational corporation in Calcutta, ^[8]Business Standard and his mother was a teacher.

• Having finished his school, Roy secured a scholarship to Haileybury and Imperial Service College in the United Kingdom for his A-levels and qualified as a British Chartered Accountant.

• Roy’s paternal grandfather Paresh Lal Roy was called the ‘father of Indian Boxing’. Brother of Paresh Lal Roy, Indra Lal Roy was the first Indian pilot of the Royal Flying Corp during World War I.

  

• Prannoy Roy is a cousin of Arundhati Roy, a novel writer.

• In 1988, Roy, along with his journalist wife Radhika Roy, launched a television production house called NDTV (New Delhi Television).

• Soon, NDTV started working for the Doordarshan as a production house and became the first independent Indian news broadcaster. NDTV set an example and pathfinder for broadcast journalism in India and is regarded as a legacy brand in the Indian news industry. ^[9]Reuters Institute

• Between 1998 and 2003, NDTV launched its first news channel in partnership with Star India which was broadcasted 24×7 on television. In partnership, Star India controlled the infrastructure of the business while NDTV managed the editorial and production areas. NDTV charged the fees for these services from Star India while Star kept the profits.

• In 2003, the partnership between NDTV and Star India ended. The reason behind the end of the partnership was the disagreement in providing complete editorial control to NDTV.

• Soon after the split, NDTV launched its two own News channels named NDTV 24×7 and NDTV India and became an independent news broadcaster. In May 2004, the company went public and by the end of 2004, in market capitalisation, it became one of the major leading media companies in India.

• In 2003, Prannoy Roy and his wife, Radhika, were awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Information, Communication, and Entertainment.

• In 2007, in the history of television and radio broadcasting, she was featured as one of fifty major women figures by the museum named Paley Center for Media.

• In 2015, it is said that Roys was in a debt agreement with the billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and they were questioned about the control percentage they had in their company after paying a series of loan transactions to the Reliance industries during the NDTV’s global financial crises. ^[10]The Caravan At the end of 2019, Reporters sans frontières, an international news organisation, released a report that 16.32% of the stake in the NDTV company was held by Radhika and 15.95% of the stake was in the name of her husband. Additionally, they both held a 29.18% stake through an equivalent holding in the NDTV company and RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd. ^[11]Media Ownership Monitor

• Reportedly, the NDTV news channel started facing pressure through legal actions and intimidation of advertisers on the network after Narendra Modi became the prime minister of India. At that time, this pressure was considered as the collapse of media freedom in India. ^[12]The New York Times Soon, the Indian government tried to ban the Hindi news channel NDTV but was stopped due to mass protests against the order. ^[13]Deutsche Welle In June 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the offices and house of Roys after a news reporter of the NDTV questioned the statements made by the spokesperson of the ruling party. ^[14]The Economist

• In 2019, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) prohibited Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy from holding and managing the upper board positions in the NDTV company for two years. Reportedly, they were accused of retaining the loan agreement information of the company. ^[15]The Hindu Roys appealed against the order and the case appeared at The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). ^[16]Business Standard

• In 2020, Roys were fined ₹27 crores by SEBI and ordered to deposit 50 percent of the amount before the second hearing. ^[17]Business Line Consequently, Radhika Roy appealed to the Supreme Court of India (SCI) which later on exempted them from depositing the amount. Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud remarked after the result of the case that it was brash for the tribunal that demanded 50 percent of the amount directly. ^[18]Newslaundry

• Roy has co-authored “A Compendium of Indian Elections” and “India Decides: Elections 1952-1991” along with David Buttler and Ashok Lahiri.

• In 2019, Prannoy Roy, along with Dorab R. Sopariwala, an Indian author, came up with the book ‘The Verdict: Decoding India’s Elections.’

  

• Roy has also been involved in a number of social programs through campaigns like the annual ‘Greenathon,’ ‘7 Wonders of India,’ ‘Support My School’ (2010), ‘Marks for Sports’ (2011) and the ‘Save Our Tigers campaign,’ which won the Best Public Service Campaign for a Brand by a News Channel in 2011.

• On 29 November 2022, Prannoy Roy and his wife, Radhika Roy, resigned as directors on the board of RRPR Holding Private Limited (RRPRH) following the Adani Group’s open offer to acquire New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV). ^[19]The Indian Express