Rao has joined forces with Hong Kong-based independent production company The Media Village, who will develop and produce lifestyle and entertainment content for her.
“After 15 years of news, I have become anxious to explore new opportunities in television and digital content distribution,” said Rao of her decision to part ways with CNN.
According to The Media Company, the deal is an open-ended, long-term arrangement with Rao and her manager and business partner Brett Gullan.
“Anjali is a fantastic talent with a non-diva personality, and she's great at engaging viewers,” said The Media Village co-founder and CEO, Charles Edwards. “What she’s doing, as a well-recognised TV personality transitioning from news to lifestyle programming, is brave and smart."
Edwards is looking to produce "bespoke programming" for various outputs including TV, web, tablet, mobile and IPTV for the Asian region that will "complement and enhance Anjali's personality traits".
Particularly, the new programming outputs will also allow "brands to intersect with content in ways that are more relevant and credible than what we seem to be seeing in our part of the world currently," Edwards said.
Founded in 2004, The Media Company already has working formats with regional broadcast networks in different markets, and expects to have Anjali back on air soon.
Edwards told Campaign that India may be one of the key markets targeted, in order to capitalise on Anjali's partly-Indian heritage.
He emphasised that the changing media landscape is influencing the company's business strategy to make full use of the shift in the audience's viewing habits.
"There is a trend away from 'appointment televison' towards 'time-shifted viewing' that requires primary and secondary windows of distribution - from TV to mobile devices to DVDs and to streaming media on the internet," he said.
Gullan added, “We’re excited by the trends emerging in the digital space. Time-shifted viewing across multiple platforms has changed the way people consume media and we want Anjali to be at the forefront of this in Asia.”
Anjali is best known for her in-depth interviews with famous names like Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, Rihanna, Dalai Lama and Bill Clinton in her TV career.