News Broadcasting
Sony Entertainment gets high valuation; promoters disagree on certain issues
India’s number two private Hindi entertainment television channel Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is believed to have been valued at US$2.5 billion, the leading Indian financial daily The Economic Times reported today.
SET’s promoters -Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and a group of Indian entrepreneurs which includes cine star Jackie Shroff – have reportedly divested five per cent of the company’s equity in favour of Capital International. Capital International has coughed up US$125 million for the five per cent stake which will be pumped into SET’s Indian and Singapore outfits through its Japanese arm Capital Japan. SET has operations in India through SET India Ltd and in Singapore through SET Satellite (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
The US$125 million valuation for a five per cent stake gives SET an enterprise valuation valuation of US$2.5 billion. The promoters had at one stage expected the valuation to be in the region of US$5 billion. One of the promoters had candidly admitted to http://www.indiantelevision.com that that was the valuation about six months ago.
But apparently the downtrend in media stocks in India and the nosedive in the valuation of Zee Telefilms Ltd – which has seen its market capitalisation evaporate to one fourth of what it was in the early part of this year – led to a lower valuation for SET.
The newspaper says that there was disagreement between the Indian promoters and SPE on the modus operandi of divestment. Capital Japan was believed to be in favour of an early exit through an initial public offering (IPO) within a year of it taking a stake in SET. SPE, however, was against any commitment on the timeframe for an IPO.
SET, the newspaper says, convinced Capital Japan to extend the timeframe to 24 months. SPE, apparently, is believed to be unhappy about this also.
However, that’ s an issue which will be resolved over time. For the nonce, SET India can be happy that it has managed to get some funds in its kitty which will go a long way in its battle with market leader Zee TV.
None of the officials in SET India or its promoters were willing to comment on the The Economic Times newsreport.
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.
