Prannoy Roy - Career

Career

• Teaching: Prannoy Roy taught at the Delhi School of Economics for a year.
• Accountancy: Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (England and Wales). Was a consultant with Price Waterhouse, India.
• Macro-modeling: He later worked with a team to create a macro-econometric model for forecasting the Indian economy
• Psephology: One of the founders of election surveys and forecasting election results. Co-authored several books with Prof. David Butler and others
• Govt: Worked as Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry, Govt of India
• Media: Award winning anchor and journalist with NDTV, India's leading news and current affairs network.

Prannoy Roy has moved with ease from qualifying as a professional Chartered Accountant and Economist to being India’s most well known TV Anchor. Known for his ability to land interviews with political and other personalities, his interviewing style is firm but never rude. Among the global leaders and Heads of State that Prannoy has interviewed have been Boris Yeltsin, Bill Gates, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Colin Powell, Parvez Musharraf, the Dalai Lama, Amartya Sen, David Frost, India’s Prime Ministers and almost every politician, and celebrity stars like Richard Gere, Ashley Judd, Bon Jovi, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.

Graduating with First Class Honours from Queen Mary College, London, Prannoy then continued his academic career to earn a PhD from the Delhi School of Economics. His academic awards include the Leverhulme Trust (UK) Fellowship, Queen Mary College Prize for results at B Sc and an OPOS Scholarship at the Doon School to study at Haiyleybury (UK).

He has been an Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry, Govt of India, and an Associate Professor at the Delhi School of Economics, where he developed a macro-econometric forecasting model for the Indian economy. He has also been a Consultant to the accountancy firm Price, Waterhouse, India.

But Prannoy Roy’s heart has been with the Television Industry since 1984 when he, along with his journalist wife Radhika, launched a television production house called New Delhi Television. A trained Psephologist, Prannoy debuted as the new centre point of televised coverage of India’s General Elections. His predictions of the results proved to be uncannily accurate. But it was his ability to translate complicated facts into simple analysis that turned him into the journalist that India would depend on, night after night, for its news. Since then he has anchored thousands of hours of news, live coverage of elections and the Government’s annual budget.

In addition to winning numerous international and national awards for his programmes, he has been adjudged the Television Personality of the Millennium by the Indian Express poll and has contributed to various national and international publications. He has been the lead Anchor for election Analysis and Budget specials on India’s national television newtwork Doordarshan and lead Anchor for BBC World’s Question Time India.

From the path-breaking The World This Week (nominated as one of India’s 5 best television programmes since Independence) to the first private news on Doordarshan The News Tonight, and producing India’s first 24-hour news channel, Prannoy Roy, with Radhika, has taken NDTV to being in the forefront of every single news revolution.

Over the years Prannoy has been keenly aware of the need to focus on a number of social issues through innovative CSR campaigns like the Greenathon, which is now an annual event, 7 Wonders of India and the Save Our Tigers campaign, which won the Best Public Service Campaign for a Brand by a News Channel in 2011. All of these have garnered massive public support and are a commendable attempt at preserving the environment and India's natural heritage. In 2010 and 2011 in the field of education he spearheaded the Support My School and Marks for Sports campaigns. The Jeene ki Aasha campaign which focuses on Maternal and Childcare issues around the country was launched in 2011 with the Gates Foundation, and its impact has already been felt with some improvement in healthcare services. Prannoy was the first to recognize that deserving people from all walks of life need to be honoured, which he does with the Indian of The Year Awards.

Led by Prannoy Roy as its Co-Chairperson, Co-Founder and mentor, NDTV today has expanded into a multiple channel network with some of the most watched and most respected news and lifestyle channels, which continue to raise the standards of journalism with their innovative programming and uncompromising integrity. Incisive and creative, these channels target the global Indian with news that is credible, true and fast. NDTV 24x7 is the only English News Channel from India which is beamed in the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius and most of the SAARC countries to reach out to the Indian Diaspora.