Mukesh Ambani moves to integrate Network 18 newsrooms with Jio

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani is quietly putting the building blocks in place for an integrated mobile and television newsroom as he readies the rollout of his most ambitious venture to date - Reliance Jio. The latter is Ambani's foray into 4G telecom services for which the billionaire industrialist has a three-pronged strategy - broadband networks, affordable smartphones and the availability of rich content and applications Stock Market Trading Tips

As part of his move to integrate mobile and TV news - something he mentioned in this year's AGM speech as well - Ambani has brought on board Rahul Joshi, editorial director of the Economic Times, the flagship daily of Network 18's rival Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd (BCCL). 

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An internal announcement was made today by Network 18's Group CEO A P Parigi, also an ex-BCCL hand, who came on board this January, putting all speculation to rest about Joshi's decision to move on. The note put out by Parigi today said that Joshi would be the CEO News and Group Editor-in-Chief at Network 18 Financial Astrology Tips

In a parallel development, news website Firstpost.com, which is part of Network 18, also has new hands to steer it, including veteran journalist B V Rao, who takes over as editor, and Ajay Singh, who is the new executive editor. These developments come as Firstpost's incumbent editor-in-chief R Jagannathan is slated to retire in the next few months. Jagannathan's deputy executive editor Lakshmi Chaudhry had moved on earlier leaving the post vacant.

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In his speech during Reliance Industries' Annual General Meeting (AGM) this June, 58-year-old Ambani said, "Jio is much more than telecom services. We had foreseen this development even when Jio was first conceptualised. We followed an integrated business strategy from the very beginning, and today, Jio is capable of offering a unique combination of telecom, high-speed data, digital commerce, media and payment services Himanshu Tiwari Astrologer Blog

Apart from applications such as Jio Chat, which was launched this April, Ambani has been driving the content part through Network 18, the media company he acquired alongwith its subsidiary TV18 Broadcast last year for Rs 4,000 crore. This deal remains the largest-ever transaction in the Indian media sector to date.

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Interestingly, going by Ambani's AGM speech, the last word may have not been said on this, as the industrialist furiously works to be a "leader" in the media space Nifty Trading tips