India Ahead, a free-to-air English news channel, is reportedly facing a severe financial crunch, and there are rumours that the channel will be shut down soon.
On December 18, one of the media representatives who used to work at the India Ahead news channel complained that the authorities at the news channel has blocked the payment of all its workers for around 4 months. The media representative who says that he was employed at the Production Control Room (PCR) in the India Ahead channel alleged that its CEO Sudeep Mukhiya and channel head Bhupen Choubey were also ignoring the employees who were demanding their stuck salary.
“I used to work on switching in PCR in the India Ahead channel. It’s been 4 months since I left the channel but till now the people on the channel have not given me my salary. When I messaged CEO Sudeep Mukhiya, instead of replying, he blocked me. Also, the channel head Bhupen Choubey has blocked me,” the person was quoted by Bhadas4media report.
The former employee said that he had tried all his means to communicate with the channel authorities but nothing has worked out. “I mail and call HR every day but they are not responding. Now the channel is also closed. No one’s salary has been given since July till now. All the people working at the channel have become unemployed,” the person added.
The employee also added that channel head Bhupen Choubey and Sudeep Mukhiya were ignoring the channel workers who were demanding their stuck salaries. Seeking help, the complainant said that the financial condition of the workers working at the media channel had worsened and that they needed to be helped on an immediate basis.
These development suggest that the channel is facing financial trouble, and there are rumours that the channel will be shut down soon. The Bhadas4media report actually said that India Ahead channel has shut down, and several people on social media also claimed the same. But that claim is incorrect, as the channel is still broadcasting programs and is available on DTH platforms. While the social media accounts of the channel are also active, the website of the channel is not operational at present.
However, the channel is not available on Dish TV for some time now, as it was removed from the Zee Group-owned Direct to Home platform due to the non-renewal of an agreement. Dish TV had said that the channel had to be removed due to payment issues.
Moreover, sources in the channel have denied rumours of shutting down. While the channel admitted irregularities in some payments, they said that the channel will remain to exist, and they are revamping the news channel. The sources said that revamped India Ahead will be launched sometime in next year.
The channel India Ahead was started in June 2018 by Andhra Prabha Media Group. Its headquarters are in Hyderabad, India, and it has studios in both Delhi and Hyderabad.
In June 2020, Goutam Mootha, MD of Andhra Prabha Group, announced senior leadership changes to the English new channel India Ahead. It is then, that Sudeep Mukhia, formerly with CNN-News18, joined India Ahead as Group President, News Room Operations and Editorial Strategies while the chief editor of the channel was Bhupendra Chaubey. The Editorial President is Sudha Sadanand, and the Executive Editor is Neha Khanna.
It is notable that India Ahead and Andhra Prabha Group have been named in the Prosecution Complaint filed by Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi Liquor scam. The two groups had received ₹1.70 crore from Indo Spirit, one of the companies accused in the case.