News Broadcasting
ZMCL distribution to be handled by Zeel; to launch Wion by Aug 2016
MUMBAI: Zee Media Corporation (ZMCL) has informed the bourses that it has terminated its distribution arrangement with Taj Television (India) Private Limited (Taj TV) which will now be done by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel). Taj TV is a wholly owned subsidiary of ZEEL.
ZMCL has also announced that its board of directors has approved the business plan for the launch of an English News channel Wion (World is One News) in August 2016.
The board has accorded in-principle approval for a material related party transaction with Zeel, a related party, for distribution of television channels of the company at seven per cent revenue sharing on the subscription revenue of the television channels of ZMCL. The company will seek approval of the unrelated shareholders for this material related party transaction between ZMCL and Zeel.
The above approvals were made by the ZMCL board of directors at meeting held on 29 April 2016. During the meeting, the board has also approved the nomination of CEO R K Arora as key managerial person with effect from 29 April 2016. Arora joined ZMCL as COO in May 2015 and was recently elevated to the post of CEO
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.
