KVL Narayan Rao, Group CEO, and Executive Vice Chairman of NDTV, has passed away at the age of 63 (July 1954- November 2017) after battling cancer for two years. He survived by his wife, Renu, and his sons, Jayant, Arjun. Narayan Rao had joined NDTV as General Manager in January 1995, looking after Human Resources, Administration and Operations of the organization, and then he was invited to join the Board of NDTV in 1998 and held the position of Executive Director since then. He was appointed Group CEO in 2007 and Executive Vice Chairperson in August 2011. In October 2016 Narayan Rao was reappointed for a second tenure as Group CEO of NDTV in addition to his responsibilities as Executive Vice Chairperson. Narayan Rao started his career as a journalist with the Indian Express, before joining the Indian Revenue Service where he held several appointments during his tenure from 1979-1994. Rao also held various positions, including President of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), a body that represents private news and current affairs broadcasters in India, member of the FICCI Entertainment Committee as well as a Member of the CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment. He was also on the Board of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), and also acted as Vice President of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA).
