ABCPL sacks TV9 CEO, brings in new face

Hyderabad: City-based Associated Broadcasting Private Limited (ABCPL), which operates a bouquet of regional language channels under TV9 brand, on Friday announced that it sacked its long-time Chief Executive Officer V Ravi Prakash and Chief Financial Officer M K V N Murthy, alleging the duo refused to transfer the management control to Alanda Media & Entertainments which acquired 90.54 per cent stake in the media house last year.

Ravi Prakash and others have remaining 9.46 per cent stake in the company.

ABCPL appointed Mahendra Mishra, who is currently handling the media firm's Kannada operations, as interim CEO who would lead the organisation with the help of respective channel heads till a permanent management structure with a full-time CEO was in place.

The media firm has also appointed Singa Rao as COO, who will support Mishra in his new role.

"Alanda has acquired 90.54 per cent n ABCPL in August 2018 from the erstwhile promoters of ABCPL. Thereafter, it has nominated four persons to be appointed as Directors on the board of ABCPL.

However, V Ravi Prakash, CEO and MKVN Murthy, CFO, failed to file the form DIR-12 with the Registrar of the Companies (RoC) confirming their appointment.

They also removed the Company Secretary by forging his signature so as not to upload the names of new Directors with ROC, thus creating hurdles," S Sambasiva Rao, Director, ABCPL, told the media here.

Pointing out that the request of the four new Directors to convene the board meeting was also declined, Rao said: "This proves that Ravi Prakash and Murthy had malafide intention of not allowing Alanda, the majority shareholder, to participate in the management of ABCPL through its new directors".

He further said: "In view of fraudulent acts of Ravi Prakash and Murthy, the Board of ABCPL in its meeting held on May 5 and the shareholders in the EGM held on May 10 have passed a resolution revoking all the powers vested with CEO Ravi Prakash and CFO Murthy with immediate effect.

Now Alanda and its nominee directors have taken the management control of TV9."

Sambasiva Rao also said that the company was committed to its core values of delivering unbiased and high-quality journalism.

"ABCPL and its shareholders express its deep commitment to restore and uphold the values of journalism in the TV9 group of channels.

The board affirmed that the organisation's real assets are its credibility and commitment to a better society and these must be maintained at all costs," he said.