HT Media reorganises digital news, brings in new heads

NEW DELHI: HT Media is giving its digital newsrooms a fresh haircut and a sharper suit. The publisher is reorganising its online operations around individual brands, betting that clearer ownership will play better in a world shaped by AI, changing reading habits and fickle traffic.

The shift comes as the company hits a new scale in its digital journey and follows the exit of chief content officer Binoy Prabhakar. An executive close to the move said, “The company is gearing up for the next phase of growth. With Binoy moving on, it provided the right opportunity to evaluate our structure and ensure it is future-ready.”

Prabhakar marked 14 January 2026 as his last day at Hindustan Times Digital, writing on LinkedIn that it had been “an absolute honour” to lead the digital arm of a 100-year-old publisher. He joined HT in April 2023 and steered digital content for nearly three years.

The rethink reflects how news is now found and consumed. AI tools are rewriting discovery, platforms are less predictable and loyalty is harder won. In response, HT Media is appointing dedicated business heads for its key digital brands, giving each a clearer mandate and sharper focus.

Paras Sharma steps up as business head for Live Hindustan. An internal hire, Sharma has spent over eight years across HT’s digital businesses. Since 2018 he has led digital content and syndication at HT Digital Streams, and earlier helped build the digital business at Hindustan Media Ventures.

Mint gets Amrendra Shukla as its new business head. Shukla, who joined HT Media more than three years ago, previously ran digital subscriptions and partnerships, building a recurring revenue engine that lifted predictability of the digital topline by 40 percent. More recently, he has driven consumer revenue across Mint, Hindustan Times and other properties. Before HT, he worked at Emeritus, leading global growth for its consumer and edtech business.

Hindustan Times itself will be led digitally by Nisheeth Upadhyay, an external hire with familiar roots. Upadhyay joins from The Print, where he was editor for operations, and is an HT alumnus with nearly seven years at the paper in roles spanning production, content and homepage leadership.

In short, HT Media is swapping one big digital command centre for several brand-led cockpits. In a noisy, algorithm-driven sky, the company is betting that clearer controls will make for a smoother flight.