News Broadcasting
RBNL ex-CBO Khanchandani joins Arnab’s Republic
MUMBAI: : Vikas Khanchandani former RBNL chief business officer has joined Republic as the chief executive officer. With over two decades of working across ad sales, digital, television and media technology, Khanchandani will play an integral role to grow Republic as an independent media tech company.
Arnab Goswami has been recruiting for catalysts for his team who would make his new venture a comprehensive set up for the new media landscape. Republic will be an independent platform for journalists and content professionals. The venture aspires to create a movement that will put the power of journalism into the hands of the citizens, and will be India’s first footprint into global journalism.
Commenting on the same, Republic founder Arnab Goswami said, “We are delighted to welcome Vikas on board. He is a great leader and joins us with very strong industry experience across multimedia platforms. Together, we believe, we will create the No. 1 News Channel in India.’’
Khandchandani added, “I am looking forward to working with Republic as I believe in the core objective and vision of launching the first global independent media venture. I am certain we will change the media scenario in India”
Khanchandani is a senior media industry professional with nearly two decades of experience. After an initial stint of running his family business in Medium Enterprise Financing and Estate Management, he joined STAR TV as a key member of the Strategic Planning and Management team which worked on sales strategies for the entire bouquet of channels across multiple genres. After STAR TV, Khanchandani was part of the core leadership team which set up NDTV Media. As Senior Vice President – Advertising Sales in charge of the English and Hindi news channels of NDTV, he played an important role in helping the NDTV network optimally monetize its revenue potential. Apart from co-founding Aidem Ventures, he played the dual role of managing existing businesses of Aidem with his operational skills. For the next 5 years, he drove the various businesses with undying enthusiasm, raw energy and a keen sense of fair play and vision, expanding into Digital advertising in a major way.
News Broadcasting
Senior media executive Madhu Soman exits Zee Media
Former Reuters and Bloomberg leader says he leaves with “no regrets” after brief stint at WION and Zee Business
NOIDA: Madhu Soman, a veteran of global newsrooms and media sales floors, has stepped away from Zee Media Corporation after a short stint steering business strategy for WION and Zee Business.
In a reflective LinkedIn note marking his departure, Soman said his time within the network’s corridors was always likely to be brief. “Some chapters close faster than expected,” he wrote, signalling the end of a nearly two-year spell in which he oversaw both editorial partnerships and commercial strategy.
Soman joined Zee Media in 2022 after more than a decade abroad with Reuters and Bloomberg, returning to India to take on the role of chief business officer for WION and Zee Business. His mandate was ambitious: bridge the newsroom and the revenue desk while expanding digital and broadcast reach.
During the stint, Zee Business reached break-even for the first time since its launch in 2005, while WION refreshed programming and strengthened its digital footprint across platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
But Soman suggested the cultural fit proved uneasy. Describing himself as a “cultural misfit”, he hinted at deeper tensions between editorial instincts shaped in global newsrooms and the realities of India’s television news ecosystem.
Before joining Zee, Soman spent more than seven years at Bloomberg in Hong Kong as head of broadcast sales for Asia-Pacific, expanding the company’s news syndication business across several markets. Earlier, he held senior editorial roles at Reuters, overseeing online strategy in India and managing Reuters Video Services from London.
His career began in television and wire reporting, including a stint with ANI during the 1999 Kargil conflict, before moving into digital publishing as India’s internet media landscape took shape.
Now, after nearly three decades in broadcast and digital media, Soman is leaving Delhi NCR and returning to his hometown, Trivandrum.
Exhausted, he admits. But unbowed. And with one quiet line that sums up the journey: he didn’t sell his soul — because some things, after all, are not for sale.
