News Broadcasting
ZMCL targets April – June launch of English news channel
MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra’s Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL) is targeting to launch its English news channel in the first quarter of the next financial year (April – June 2016).
A senior ZMCL executive tells Indiantelevision.com that while the name of the channel has not yet been decided, the recruitment has already started. “We are building a team, which in the long run will turn out to be a formidable one,” the executive says.
As a first step in recruitment, ZMCL has already got on board Rohit Gandhi as editor-in-chief (English News and Current Affairs) to steer the proceedings.
The channel will be distributed globally as a part of the Living Bouquet. “Pay model will be the biggest source of revenue when it comes to global market, but initially in India, we will focus on advertising,” informs the executive.
The English news channel will produce content, which will cater to the global audience.
Zee’s English news channel will be totally different from its existing Hindi news channel Zee News, which caters to the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM). “We are creating an entirely new infrastructure and putting up new studios for the new channel. It will be under ZMCL but totally separate from Zee News both in terms of operations as well as editorial,” asserts the executive.
Currently, ZMCL has in its portfolio three national channels Zee News (Hindi News), India 24X7, and Zee Business. In addition, its regional news channels’ portfolio comprises Zee Marathi, Zee Madhya Pradesh / Chhattisgarh, Zee Rajasthan, Zee Punjab Haryana / Himachal and Zee Kalinga (Odisha). The company also operates two regional news channels through its subsidiaries namely 24 Ghanta (Bengali) through Zee Akaash News Pvt Ltd and Maurya TV (Bihar & Jharkhand) through Maurya TV Private Limited.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
