News Broadcasting
Mini Mathur to host Pogo Amazing Kids Awards ’06
MUMBAI: The third edition of the Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006 is all set to rock with television anchor/VJ Mini Mathur on board for 19 new episodes.
Turner International India Vice President Advertising Sales and Networks India and South Asia Monica Tata said, “We are extremely happy to introduce Mini as the new face for Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006. Mini is a popular television anchor and we are confident that she will do complete justice to the new, serialised format of Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006. A mom herself, Mini would be the best person to interact with the participants and their parents and also share a comfort level with them as they face the camera.”
Mini Mathur with Rob (left), Chinu (right) and Niall on Pogo Amazing Kids Awards ’06
Enthused about her venture in the kids’ genre for the first time, Mini Mathur says, “I am really excited to be part of Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006. Though I have anchored a lot of shows on television, this one demands dealing with young hearts and their emotions. Pogo is doing an incredible job by inculcating confidence in these kids and providing them a platform to showcase their talent to the country.”
The Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006 research team and jury is in the process of short listing five nominees from each of the eight categories – arts, sports, music, singing, dance, genius, leadership and entertainment. These 40 kids will be profiled as part of the Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006 series starting 4 November 2006. This serialised format has been produced by Miditech.
The first eight episodes will feature non-category specific profiling of the 40 nominees, followed by a complete recap in the ninth episode. The next eight episodes will have three finalists in each category vying for the top prize by impressing the jury, viewers and thereby getting their votes. At this stage, the jury panel will be there to guide the finalists, spur them on and give them words of advice, while viewers’ votes will play a crucial role in selecting the final eight winners. These will be followed by a grand finale that will reveal the final eight winners of Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006, informs an official release.
The winners of the POGO Kids Awards will be felicitated at a gala, in-studio event in Mumbai that will be interspersed with performances. The winners will be awarded with a child benefit policy worth Rs 5 lakhs and to further highlight their talent, the winning kids will get the chance to be on Pogo throughout 2007.
Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006 is divided into two sections, Pogo Voice Awards and Pogo Kids Awards. The Pogo Kids Awards segment will recognise exceptional talent and brilliance and reward them for their talents in multiple areas and the Pogo Voice Awards will yet again empower children from all over India to vote for their favourite celebrity icons amongst nominees in various award categories.
Instituted by Pogo in December 2004, the Awards recognise child wonders and reward them for their achievements in multiple areas of excellence such as arts, leadership and sports.
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.
