News Anchor Sudhir Chaudhary Receives Rs15 Crore From Prasarbharati, Confirms RTI
New Delhi: India’s state-owned broadcasting company Prasar Bharati is paying a whopping Rs 15 crore annually to news anchor and consulting editor Sudhir Choudhary, who previously faced charges for several cases including framing fake stories and involving in media extortion. The deal has been signed between Prasar Bharati and Sudhir Choudhary’s ESSPRIT Productions Pvt Ltd for his service for Doordarshan.
Prasar Bharati runs India’s public service broadcaster, Doordarshan, and All India Radio. With a deal with the former face of Zee News, Choudhary, the broadcaster is aiming to make it a dominant player in Indian news television, probably placing him at the helm for the same.
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The RTI reply shared by activist Ajay Bose confirmed that the government has entered a deal with Choudhary’s production agency M/S ESSPRIT Pvt Ltd for the live and exclusive show, DECODE, on the Doordarshan for a whopping Rs 15 crore annually. As per reports, the 15 crore compensation is subject to escalation at the rate of 10 percent every year.
There were earlier reports that Choudhary had signed a deal with Prasar Bharti for a show on Doordarshan (DD) News, with a contract offering the anchor Rs 15 crore annually, considered the biggest-ever media deal meant for the revival of public broadcaster.
The RTI further sought a reply on the programme that the consulting editor will be anchored for the public broadcaster. To which Doordarshan Bhawan clarified that the programme is named ‘Decode.’
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To the query regarding the time by which Choudhary will be joining Doordarshan for news anchoring, the reply stated that the programme anchored by him will telecast on DD News from May 15, 2025, after completing all the formalities.
RTI reply recvd 4m @DDNewslive shows @prasarbharati of Govt of India paying a Whopping Rs 15 Crores Annually to News Anchor @sudhirchaudhary production agency M/S ESSPRIT Pvt Ltd for Live & Exclusive show #DECODE on @DDNewslive
What do you think on this plz comment… pic.twitter.com/j8pUHQ2lRj— AJAY BOSE (@AjayBos93388306) June 17, 2025
For nearly a decade, Choudhary was the face of Zee News, and he later joined Aaj Tak. He has found himself in trouble igniting controversies for making Islamophobic, casteist, and other objectionable and unverified statements.
In 2008, Chaudhary faced a jail term for a fake story against a school teacher alleging that the teacher ran a prostitution racket for school girls. He was serving as the editor of Live India back then and the media house was banned for several weeks for airing the fake story.
In 2012, the journalist was again jailed for trying to extort money from the Jindal group for hushing up the firm’s role in a coal scam when he was working as the face of Zee Group.
