[7] Sardesai worked with The Times of India for six years, after joining it in October 1988,[8] and was the city editor of its Mumbai edition.

He quit NDTV on 17 April 2005[9] to start his own company, Global Broadcast News (GBN), in collaboration with the American giant CNN and Raghav Bahl's TV18.

On 29 May 2014, Reliance Industries Ltd announced it would be acquiring control in Network 18 Media & Investments Ltd, the parent of CNN-IBN, IBN7 and CNBC-TV18.

[11] Subsequently, on 1 July 2014, Sardesai, editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN, along with the entire founding team — editorial and managerial — resigned from the Network18 group.

[18][19] Sardesai and others were acquitted of defamation by a Hyderabad court in November 2019 after issuing an unconditional apology to IPS officer Rajiv Trivedi for false reporting on his role in the death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.

[20][21] In January 2021, Sardesai was taken off TV for two weeks by India Today while also cutting his monthly salary for alleging in a retracted tweet that Navreet Singh was killed in a police shooting during 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest.

[29] In July 2024, Rajdeep Sardesai posted a video clip on X claiming that BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi had abused his cameraperson after his debate show.

"[31] Delhi High Court opined that the video was recorded by India Today cameraperson after Ilmi had removed herself from the show.