KOLKATA: Zee Entertainment Enterprises owned 24x7 Bengali news channel, 24 Ghanta, is all set to get on board veteran journalist and Hindustan Times deputy resident editor (RE) Anirban Choudhury, as editor.

“Bye bye Hindustan Times.... shall remain ever grateful to you...forever,” he wrote on a social networking site.

Choudhury, agreed to the development, but refused to reveal the date of his joining. “I would like to finish off all my assignments at HT before moving on to 24 Ghanta,” he said.

In his new role, he will be looking after the overall operations of the channel. “Bengal is not just about politics. We would like to tell a story of a common man,” he said about his plans for the channel.

 “Zee has spent a huge amount on this channel, but still something was missing. The channel could not make its mark even after recruiting so many senior journalists. Hope Choudhury’s appointment works as a miracle,” said an official from the channel.

 “There is an urgent need to revamp the whole structure and the schedule of the channel. With Anirban at the helm of affairs, we hope that the channel would get back to winning ways. He was responsible for creating a market for HT in the eastern region and hope he would do the same for 24 Ghanta,” said an industry expert.

24 Ghanta was launched in the year 2006 and it covers local, national as well as international news.