Just days before NDTV Imagine is due to sign a majority stake-sale agreement with Turner Broadcasting, speculation of the imminent departure of Imagine’s executive vice president, Harsh Rohatgi, is coursing through the industry. Though Rohatgi has said that he had no plans to leave, insiders’ vociferous buzz suggests that he will soon become the National Geographic Channel’s MD.

Before he joined Imagine in 2007, Rohatgi was the GM and senior VP, content and communication, at Star India. He spent seven years there.

If he does indeed join the National Geographic Channel, Rohatgi will take the place of Nikhil Mirchandani, who was recently appointed as the GM and EVP for the Star One channel. Star One is a part of Star India, which like the National Geographic Channel, is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.