News Broadcasting
TV 18’s national news ops break even in Q3
MUMBAI: The national news business of TV18 Broadcast has attained break-even status while losses continue to kick in from regional news operations.
TV18‘s general news operations on a combined level, however, posted an operating loss of Rs 16 million for the fiscal third quarter, reversing from a profit of Rs 71 million in the earlier year. The loss in the second quarter of this fiscal was lower at Rs 7 million.
Operating profit from the business news segment has narrowed to Rs 108 million for the three months ended December 2011, from Rs 225 million a year ago.
TV18‘s operating loss from combined news operations was Rs 162 million, reversing from a profit of Rs 296 million in the earlier-year quarter. Revenue grew to Rs 1.67 billion compared to Rs 1.53 billion a year ago.
In the general news segment, revenue rose to Rs 773 million, from Rs 744 million in the third quarter of the previous fiscal. For business news, revenue stood at Rs 876 million, up 11 per cent.
Revenue from infotainment channel History 18, which was launched in the third quarter of this fiscal, stood flat at Rs 22 million. The channel posted a loss of Rs 253 million.
Digital business continued to be in the red with the loss widening almost 51 per cent to Rs 322 million. Revenue rose 10 per cent to Rs 584 million.
Web18 recorded revenues of Rs 263 million, a growth of 21 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year on a proforma basis. Newswire18 delivered revenues of Rs 108 million for the quarter, and HomeShop18 Rs 213 million, a growth of 28 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year.
On a consolidated basis, TV18 Broadcast posted a net loss of Rs 535 million for the fiscal third quarter , mainly due to new channel launches.
The company‘s consolidated net profit in the same quarter of the earlier year stood at Rs 198 million.
Revenue increased to Rs 3.43 billion, up from Rs 2.36 billion a year ago.
TV18‘s consolidated numbers include 100 per cent standalone and AETN18, 50 per cent share of Viacom18 and 50 per cent share of IBN Lokmat.
The company‘s shares closed at Rs 31.30, down 2.03 per cent on the BSE.
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.
