If you have typed “zee news anchor list” into Google, you are probably trying to put a name to a face you see every evening on your TV screen. Maybe you want to know who hosts the 9 PM show, or you are simply curious about the men and women who read out the news, run the debates, and shape how millions of Indians understand the day’s events.
This guide gives you a clear, updated, and fact-checked list of Zee News anchors, the shows they host, and a few important corrections to information that is floating around on older blogs. A lot of anchor-list articles online have not been updated in years, so they still show people who left the channel long back. We have gone through the latest available reports to keep this list as accurate as possible.
Quick Facts About Zee News
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Channel type | Hindi news channel |
| Parent company | Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) |
| Launch year | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Noida, Uttar Pradesh |
| Flagship prime-time show | DNA (Daily News and Analysis), 9 PM |
| Other popular shows | Taal Thok Ke, Deshhit |
| Sister channels | Zee Business, WION, Zee Rajasthan, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Hindustan and more |
Why People Search for the Zee News Anchor List
There are a few common reasons this search term trends so often:
- Viewers want to know the real name behind a familiar on-screen face.
- Students and media aspirants track anchor careers to understand how people build a name in Hindi television journalism.
- Old anchor-list pages online are outdated, so people search again hoping for fresh, current information.
- Anchors frequently move between channels, so viewers want to confirm who is currently working where.
This last point matters a lot. Hindi news television sees frequent anchor movement, and Zee News is no exception. Keep this in mind as you go through the list below — we have flagged names that have recently changed shows or left the channel altogether.
Current Zee News Anchor List (2026)
Here is a snapshot of anchors who are confirmed to be associated with Zee News as of mid-2026, along with the shows they are known for.
| Anchor Name | Show / Role | Time Slot |
|---|---|---|
| Rahul Sinha | DNA (Daily News and Analysis) – Managing Editor & Anchor | 9 PM |
| Pratyush Khare | Taal Thok Ke and Deshhit | 5 PM & 8 PM |
| Rohit Ranjan | News bulletins and special shows | Varies |
| Preeti Dahiya | Consultant Anchor (news bulletins) | Varies |
| Anant Tyagi | Former DNA anchor, still linked with channel coverage | Varies |
Note: TV news anchor line-ups change often, sometimes within the same year. The names above are based on the most recent public announcements from Zee Media at the time of writing. Always cross-check with the official Zee News website or its verified social media handles for the latest, day-to-day anchor roster.
Zee News Anchors List – 2026 Updated
Rahul Sinha – Managing Editor and DNA Anchor
Rahul Sinha is one of the most senior names currently associated with Zee News. He carries over two decades of experience in Indian journalism and took over as the anchor of DNA, the channel’s flagship 9 PM show, in 2025. Alongside anchoring, he also holds the role of Managing Editor at Zee News, which means he has a say in the channel’s editorial direction, not just its on-screen presentation. His return to the anchor’s chair was presented by the channel as a move to bring more experience back to its most-watched slot.
Pratyush Khare – Taal Thok Ke and Deshhit Anchor
Pratyush Khare has been with Zee Media since 2024 and was promoted to anchor two of the channel’s major prime-time properties in 2026: Taal Thok Ke, the long-running debate show that airs in the evening slot, and Deshhit, a news analysis show. Before this promotion, he worked as a senior anchor and executive producer within the network, handling news bulletins and editorial coverage. His appointment came after the previous host’s contract with the channel ended.
Rohit Ranjan – Senior Anchor
Rohit Ranjan has been a familiar face on Zee News for several years and became widely known as a host of the DNA show before the anchor changes described above took place. He has anchored breaking news coverage and special bulletins and remains one of the more recognisable names linked with the channel.
Preeti Dahiya – Consultant Anchor
Preeti Dahiya joined Zee News as a Consultant Anchor after previously working with ABP News. She brings more than a decade and a half of experience in broadcast media, including hosting, reporting, and producing live coverage of news and sporting events.
Deepak Chaurasia — Senior journalist
Deepak Chaurasia joined Zee News as Consulting Editor and Anchor, moving over from News Nation where he held the same consulting editor role. He has close to three decades of experience and earlier spent about five years as Editor–National Affairs at ABP News. He’s known for his high-energy, hard-hitting anchoring style on debate and breaking-news coverage.
Shikha Thakur — Senior Anchor
Shikha Thakur is a senior anchor at Zee News, known specifically for defence and political coverage. Before joining Zee News, she worked as an anchor at Bharat24 and, earlier, at ABP News, where she hosted the show Punchnama. She has around 18 years of overall media experience across print, radio, and television.
Laveena Raj
Laveena Raj rejoined the Zee group in late 2025, marking her second stint with the network. She started her Zee journey at the regional channel Zee Rajasthan before moving to Zee Hindustan, where she anchored two prime-time shows, Mera Rajya Mera Desh and Akhand Bharat. In between, she spent time at Network18/News18 India before coming back.
Anant Tyagi
Anant Tyagi anchored Zee News’ flagship DNA show for close to a year after being appointed in mid-2024, known for his focus on state elections, legal rulings, and socio-political developments. He was succeeded by Rahul Sinha in 2025, but he remains associated with the channel’s broader news coverage.
Zee News Viewership and Reach in 2026
Zee News has had a strong run recently, which is part of why more people are searching for its anchors. According to BARC India data for Week 50 of 2025, Zee News climbed to the No. 2 position among Hindi news channels nationally, its strongest showing in nearly six years. The channel recorded a reach of 50.8 million viewers and a 10.2 percent market share during that week.
The numbers look even stronger in specific segments. In HSM Rural markets, Zee News ranked No. 1 with a 12.2 percent market share and a reach of 17.6 million viewers. On the Free Platform (free-to-air homes), it again topped the chart with a 12.7 percent share and 15 million viewers. Regionally, the channel also led in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with a 13.5 percent market share in that belt. This kind of reach explains why the anchors fronting its shows end up becoming household names across large parts of Hindi-speaking India, especially outside big metro cities.
It is worth remembering that Zee Media had actually pulled its channels out of the BARC ratings system back in 2022 over a dispute about how “landing page” viewership was being counted, before returning to the ratings fold later on. This context matters if you come across older articles that talk about Zee News being unrated – that phase has long since ended.
How Zee News Anchor Line-ups Keep Changing
If you compare anchor lists from 2020, 2023, and 2026, you will notice the names change a lot more than you might expect for a channel that has been on air since 1999. This is not unusual in Indian TV news. A few reasons drive this constant reshuffling:
- Contracts for senior anchors are often renewed on a yearly or multi-year basis, and not every anchor stays once their term ends.
- Channels experiment with new hosts on flagship shows to try and improve ratings during a competitive time slot.
- Senior anchors sometimes get promoted into editorial or managerial roles, which changes how often they appear on screen.
- Anchors move between competing channels for better roles, packages, or creative freedom – something we saw with several names on this very list.
- Some anchors leave TV news altogether to start independent YouTube channels or podcasts, a trend that has picked up noticeably over the last couple of years.
The DNA show is a good example of this pattern in action. Over just a few years, it moved from Sudhir Chaudhary, to actor-turned-anchor Sourabh Raaj Jain, to Anant Tyagi, and now to Rahul Sinha. Each change came with its own announcement and its own promotional push, and each one made older “Zee News anchor list” articles instantly outdated.
Zee News Prime-Time Shows and Their Anchors
| Show Name | Focus Area | Current / Recent Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| DNA (Daily News and Analysis) | In-depth news analysis, 9 PM flagship show | Rahul Sinha (2025 – present) |
| Taal Thok Ke | Panel debate on trending political and social issues | Pratyush Khare (2026 – present) |
| Deshhit | News analysis and national interest stories | Pratyush Khare (2026 – present) |
It helps to know that DNA has had several anchors over the past few years, moving from Sudhir Chaudhary, to Sourabh Raaj Jain, to Anant Tyagi, and now to Rahul Sinha. This kind of change is quite normal for a long-running flagship show, since channels often experiment with fresh faces to keep prime time engaging.
Fact Check: Common Mistakes in Old Zee News Anchor Lists
Many blog posts about Zee News anchors were written years ago and never updated. Below are a few corrections worth knowing, based on the latest available information as of July 2026.
Fact-Check: Sudhir Chaudhary is NOT currently at Zee News. He was the channel’s well-known editor-in-chief and prime-time anchor for years but moved to Aaj Tak back in 2022. He now also runs his own production house.Aman Chopra is NOT a Zee News anchor. He is often listed on old “Zee News anchor” pages, but he currently anchors the debate show “Desh Nahi Jhukne Denge” on News18 India, and has recently also started his own independent YouTube show.Aditi Tyagi is NOT currently anchoring for Zee News.
She was a long-time senior anchor and deputy editor at the channel, known for hosting Taal Thok Ke for years, but she stepped away from Zee News and has since been associated with other media ventures.Anurag Muskaan previously hosted Taal Thok Ke and Deshhit but is no longer with the channel; his contract ended in March 2026, after which Pratyush Khare took over both shows.
This is exactly why it is worth checking the date on any anchor-list article before trusting it. TV news is a fast-moving industry, and a page written in 2022 or 2023 can be badly out of date by 2026.
Male vs Female Anchors at Zee News: What the Data Shows
Zee News, like most large Hindi news channels, has traditionally had a larger number of male anchors fronting prime-time debate and political shows, while its daytime bulletins and regional coverage feature a mix of male and female anchors. In recent years, the channel has also relied on a rotating bench of senior and consultant anchors rather than fixing one face to one show for years at a stretch. This is part of a wider trend across Hindi news television, where channels frequently reshuffle anchors to manage viewership and keep formats fresh.
It is also worth noting that several well-known female anchors who built their reputation at Zee News have since moved on. Aditi Tyagi, for instance, spent nearly a decade at the channel across two separate stints, rising to deputy editor and becoming closely identified with the Taal Thok Ke debate format, before eventually stepping away from the channel. This kind of long-term, high-profile exit is one of the biggest reasons old “female anchors of Zee News” lists need a fresh update rather than a simple copy-paste from a few years ago.
On the current roster, Preeti Dahiya represents the consultant-anchor category, a model many channels now use to bring in experienced anchors without necessarily giving them the same permanent, single-show identity that flagship anchors like DNA’s host receive.
Zee News Sister Channels and Their Own Anchor Teams
Zee Media Corporation runs a much wider network than just Zee News. It operates a total portfolio that includes national, global, and regional-language channels, and each of these has its own separate anchor team. If you have seen an unfamiliar anchor and assumed they belong to Zee News, there is a good chance they actually work for one of these sister channels instead:
- Zee Business – the group’s dedicated business and stock market news channel.
- WION (World Is One News) – Zee Media’s English-language global news channel.
- Zee Rajasthan, Zee Odisha, Zee 24 Taas (Marathi), Zee Salaam, Zee Hindustan – regional and language-specific news channels.
- Zee 24 Ghante and Maurya TV – regional channels run through the group’s subsidiary companies.
Because Zee Media anchors sometimes appear across these channels for special coverage – elections, budget days, or breaking national stories – it is easy to mix up which channel a particular anchor is primarily attached to. When in doubt, check the show name and its regular time slot rather than just the channel logo in a video thumbnail.
Do Zee News Anchor Salaries Get Shared Publicly?
Zee News, like almost every Indian news channel, does not officially publish anchor salaries. Numbers that circulate online for senior TV anchors in India are usually estimates from media industry reports and job-listing sites, and they vary a lot depending on seniority, the anchor’s role (editorial vs. on-air only), and whether they also hold a management title such as Managing Editor. Because of this, it is best to treat any specific salary figure you see online as an unverified estimate rather than a confirmed fact.
How to Verify Current Zee News Anchors Yourself
Since anchor rosters change often, here is a simple way to double-check any name before you rely on it:
- Check the official Zee News website (zeenews.india.com) and look at the show page directly.
- Look at the anchor’s own verified social media account – most working anchors mention their current channel in their bio.
- Search for recent news coverage from media-industry portals, which usually report anchor changes within days of an announcement.
- Avoid trusting anchor-list pages that do not mention a publish or update date.
What It Takes to Become a Zee News-Style Anchor
If the career paths of these anchors interest you, a pattern becomes clear once you look at their backgrounds. Almost none of them walked straight into a prime-time chair. Most spent years as reporters or desk journalists first, often at more than one channel, before being trusted with an anchor’s seat. A few common building blocks show up again and again:
- A postgraduate degree in mass communication, journalism, or a related field, though this is not always mandatory.
- Several years of on-ground reporting experience, which builds the news judgement anchors need during live TV.
- Experience across multiple channels, since it is common for journalists to move between organisations early in their career before settling into a senior role.
- Strong command over Hindi (for Hindi news channels) along with the ability to think on your feet during live debates and breaking news.
For aspiring journalists, tracking how current anchors built their careers is often more useful than simply memorising who is on air today, since today’s line-up is almost guaranteed to look different a year or two down the line.
Also Read: How to Become a Journalist in India
Conclusion
The Zee News anchor line-up has gone through real changes over the past couple of years, and several names that older blog posts still list – like Sudhir Chaudhary, Aman Chopra, and Aditi Tyagi – are simply not accurate anymore. As of July 2026, the channel’s prime-time line-up is fronted by Rahul Sinha on DNA and Pratyush Khare on Taal Thok Ke and Deshhit, supported by senior anchors like Rohit Ranjan and consultant anchors like Preeti Dahiya. Since Hindi news television keeps reshuffling its faces, the smartest habit is to always check the publish date on any anchor list you read, and to verify big names directly from the channel’s official platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the current anchor of Zee News DNA show?
As of 2026, Rahul Sinha anchors Zee News’ flagship DNA show, which airs at 9 PM. He took over this role in 2025 and also serves as the channel’s Managing Editor.
Is Sudhir Chaudhary still with Zee News?
No. Sudhir Chaudhary left Zee News in 2022 and moved to Aaj Tak, where he continues to anchor prime-time shows.
Is Aman Chopra a Zee News anchor?
No, this is a common mix-up. Aman Chopra currently anchors “Desh Nahi Jhukne Denge” on News18 India, not Zee News.
Who hosts Taal Thok Ke on Zee News now?
Pratyush Khare has hosted Taal Thok Ke since April 2026, after taking over from the previous anchor.
Does Zee News have female prime-time anchors?
Yes, though the channel’s current prime-time debate and analysis shows are largely fronted by male anchors, women continue to anchor bulletins, consultant slots, and special coverage across the channel.
Where can I find the most up-to-date anchor list?
Your best bet is the official Zee News website and its verified social media pages, since anchor changes are usually announced there first, along with coverage on media-industry news portals.
Is Zee News the same as Zee Business or WION?
No. Zee News, Zee Business, and WION are separate channels under the same parent company, Zee Media Corporation Limited. Each has its own dedicated anchor team, so an anchor you see on Zee Business is not automatically a Zee News anchor.
How often does the Zee News anchor list actually change?
Based on the pattern over the last few years, at least one prime-time anchor change happens roughly once a year, sometimes more often. This is why it makes sense to treat any anchor list, including this one, as accurate for a limited window of time rather than permanent.
Disclaimer: All anchor names mentioned belong to their respective individuals and are used here only for informational and journalistic purposes. This article is not affiliated with or endorsed by Zee Media Corporation Limited.
