News Broadcasting
NDTV 24×7 launch 12 news and news based shows
MUMBAI: Nothing like competition to get the aggro going. The leader in the English news channel space NDTV 24×7 is all set to unleash a whole bunch of new shows over the next couple of weeks. The channel has lined up 12 shows that cover the full gamut from the political, sporting right through to lifestyle.
Among the programmes on the menu are India-Pakistan Debates, Keeping Score with Imran and The Big Fat Indian Wedding. These offerings are aimed at complementing the news coverage.
First up is Aamir Speaks — Rang de Basanti, where the “media unfriendly” superstar Aamir Khan and other key cast members talk to a student audience about what they can do to change India, which is also the film’s central theme. This is quite a coup for the channel since Khan has thus far refused to speak to the media about the movie.
In the show, the crew of Rang De Basanti and the students discuss politics, music, and their favorite college memories. The show will be telecast on 20 January at 10 pm, 21 January at 10:30 pm and 22 January at 10:30 am.
The channel also aims to capitalise on the charisma of Dr Prannoy Roy in a unique show titled The India-Pakistan Debates, which is set to air from 26 January at 9:30 pm every Thursday and Friday. Dr Roy will anchor the show that will showcase a live audience and guests from India and Pakistan sharing a common platform. As the name suggests the show will debate various topics ranging from politics to sports to entertainment and whatever is making news on both sides of the border.
Then there is 60 Minutes, which has as its highlight the day’s big interview, followed by the main headlines from all over the country, pertaining to business deals, sports buzz, the entertainment industry and ending with audiences live calls and voting.
Witness has NDTV reporters from all over the country pooling their reports to produce “one complete story that’s changing India. Right from the start to the finish.”
There is also True Lies, a comic strip that features a witty social and political satire that uses comedy as the delivery vehicle.
News in India is incomplete without the country’s national obsession cricket so there is Keeping Score with Imram, which will provide with daily dose of Indo-Pak cricket from ‘the voice of experience’.
An interesting show is Good Food Ambassador. In each episode, the channel visits an ambassador of a country at his residence, where he/she will demonstrate two recipes. The show will provide several gourmet foods; authentic international cooking and lots of talk about specialties in each country.
The channel will also act as a wedding planner with a six part series The Big Fat Indian Wedding, which deals with the business of weddings. The idea is not just to provide entertainment to the viewers but also give out information like venues, what time of the year is most auspicious, meals how much they cost, snacks, clothes how much to allocate for it, jewellery, photographers, pundits, decorations, flower arrangement and most importantly show how a Bengali wedding is different from a Punjabi wedding or a Sindhi or a Kashmiri wedding. The show will compare the different ceremonies, customs, traditions and the rituals followed by the different communities also.
The channel explores the world of good schools as well as good colleges via Good Schools and Good Colleges. The idea is to provide an opportunity to visit these institutions and showcase how they function.
A new take on the holiday destination is Best Spas. The show will take the viewers through a journey of wellness, fitness activities, healthy spa cuisine and educational classes.
Best Hotels profiles high-end hotels and everything that the hotels have to offer to the discerning business traveller and/or holiday maker.
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.
