With Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi S. Vempati tenure ending Wednesday and a successor not yet selected, Director-General of Doordarshan and DD News, Mayank Kumar Agrawal, has been entrusted with additional charge of CEO.

The decision on Agrawal’s interim dual charge was taken by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur as the hunt for Vempati’s successor begins.

Incidentally, the Prasar Bharati Chairman’s post too has been lying vacant since early 2020 after A. Surya Prakash departed completing his stint.

Agrawal is 1989-batch Indian Information Service (IIS) official and has over a three-decades-long experience in the field of public communication with broadcast and digital media being his strong suits, moneycontrol.com reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, Vempati, who helmed Parasr Bharat as its CEO for five years was the first non-bureaucrat to do so and was elevated to the position from being a Board member of the pubcaster.

“Thankful to Hon’ble Prime Minister @narendramodi for the incredible opportunity to contribute to the Nation over the past 5 years as the CEO of Prasar Bharati. It has been a great learning experience and I am happy to have made a difference to the Doordarshan and All India Radio. Thankful to past and current fellow Board Members of @prasarbharati who have been fantastic partners in this transformational journey who have supported the many change initiatives over the years,” Vempati announced his tenure-ending on social media Wednesday.

Vempati is credited to have streamlined Prasar Bharati’s two organisations — Doordarshan and All India Radio — in many ways, including speeding up digitisation of networks, phasing out of analog services and making the organisations more vibrant and revenue-oriented (turning DD FreeDish slots into a commercial success is just one example), while upholding the values of national broadcaster.