Zee Media hired Rohit Gandhi as the founder and first editor-in-chief to establish the channel in August 2015.[4] Its simulcast was launched on its website in many countries as a free-to-air satellite service on 15 June 2016.[5] The television channel began airing on 15 August 2016.[6]Sudhir Chaudhary served as its editor-in-chief after Gandhi until he left in 2021.[7] Before switching to CNN-News18, Palki Sharma Upadhyay served for 4 years and resigned in September 2022.[8] Past team includes Naveen Kapoor and Kartikeya Sharma.
The current team includes Sidhant Sibal of DD News, who joined the media corporation on 1 April 2018. Madhu Soman[9] joined as a chief business officer in 2022. Rohit Banerjee looks after the branded content. While Molly Gambhir replaces Palki Sharma's position on Gravitas and Gravitas Plus to become the leading anchor of the WION channel, other associated journalists include Digvijay Singh Deo, Shivan Chanana, Rabin Sharma, Ieshan Wani, Esha Hanspal, Priyanka Sharma and Alyson le Grange.
The channel's Pakistan bureau chief, Taha Siddiqui, was forced into exile after a failed kidnapping attempt in Islamabad. He was replaced by Anas Mallick.[10][11]
According to Media Bias/Fact Check, WION reports international news with little bias, but also publishes tabloid-style stories that may be misleading.[12]
In 2021, the appointment of M.J. Akbar, an Indian journalist and politician who has been accused of sexual assault by women, to WION as an "editorial consultant" was met with controversy, with more than 150 journalists signing a statement demanding that Akbar be removed by WION and Zee News.[13][needs update]
On 22 March 2022, WION was blocked from YouTube for "violating YouTube's community guidelines". YouTube had taken objection to a video posted on 10 March, broadcasting a speech by Sergey Lavrov, the head of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, denying the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[14] YouTube unblocked the channel on 26 March after a social media campaign by WION.[15]
Lawsuit against former anchor Palki Sharma Upadhyay[edit]
After the former anchor Palki Sharma Upadhyay announced her retirement from WION and the creation of a new talk show in CNN News18, WION filed a lawsuit against Upadhyay, saying that "confidential and proprietary Zee information" was taken by Upadhyay, and demanded that Upadhyay should continue to work for WION until December 2022 and pay for damages worth ₹2 crores. However, the Delhi High Court refused WION's appeal, and the next hearing of the case would be delayed until March 2023.[16]
