New Delhi: Senior television journalist Zakka Jacob is set to exit Network18 and join Times Now as Managing Editor in April, according to highly placed industry sources. His move comes a few months after a key internal realignment at Network18 in December 2025, when Jacob transitioned from day-to-day newsroom leadership to a primarily editorial and on-air role.
At the time of his exit, Jacob held the designation of Senior Anchor & Group Foreign Affairs Editor (in the grade of Managing Editor) at CNN-News18. The position followed an internal restructuring announced in December 2025, under which Jacob stepped back from operational editorial management responsibilities to focus on journalism, anchoring and international affairs coverage across Network18 platforms.
As part of the same December 2025 reorganisation, Network18 appointed senior journalist Rahul Shivshankar — who moved from Times Now to the group — to take over editorial leadership responsibilities earlier handled by Jacob. Shivshankar assumed charge of editorial affairs across CNN-News18, marking a significant leadership reshuffle between two of India’s leading English news broadcasters.
Move Marks Cross-Network Leadership Shift
Jacob’s transition to Times Now effectively completes a high-profile editorial exchange between the two rival networks: Shivshankar moved from Times Now to Network18 to oversee editorial affairs, while Jacob is now set to move from Network18 to Times Now as Managing Editor. His forthcoming role at Times Now will mark a return to full-time newsroom leadership.
Jacob has been closely associated with CNN-News18 for nearly a decade, having earlier served as Managing Editor before the 2025 restructuring. In his subsequent role as Senior Anchor & Group Foreign Affairs Editor, he continued to anchor major programmes and lead international coverage initiatives for the network.
Navika Kumar is expected to continue anchoring the flagship 9 PM primetime show at Times Now, even as Jacob joins the channel’s editorial leadership team in April.
With this move, both Network18 and Times Now appear to have completed a rare top-tier editorial talent swap at the leadership level — a development likely to influence competitive positioning in the English television news segment in 2026.
