News Broadcasting
Chabin re-appointed as Promax/BDA CEO for 5 more years
MUMBAI: Promax/BDA CEO Jim Chabin has got his tenure extended for five more years. This was announced by Promax/BDA chairmen Michael Benson (ABC Television Network) and Steve Kazanjian (DZN Media).
Recognising his invaluable contributions to revitalising the world’s premiere trade organization for promotion, marketing and design professionals in electronic media, Jim Chabin, chief executive officer for the associations since 2002, has agreed to remain with the organization until 2010, said the joint-announcement.
“As a non-profit association, Promax/BDA has been challenged to raise the profile and quality of work produced by our industry at a time when competition is unrelenting, budgets are constantly scrutinized and time is the enemy,” said Benson. “Jim not only stepped into a difficult position, he stepped up to the plate, inspiring our members and reminding the industry as a whole that the exchange of information, experience and ideas makes all of us better and, in turn, benefits the companies we work for and with. We have the utmost faith in Jim’s ability to build this organization for the future of our industry.”
Added Kazanjian: “Our goal as an organization is to identify the competitive challenges facing our members and their companies and to target practical ways of meeting them. In the three years that Jim has been back at the helm, he has met and expanded on those goals while also reaching out to and encouraging the next generation of promotion, marketing, and design professionals. We’re fortunate to have him on our team and look forward to the next five years.”
“We often hear that if we love our work, are passionate about what we do, we will be successful,” said Chabin. “I am deeply passionate about the vital role that marketing, promotion and design play in the global marketplace and take great pride in trumpeting the achievements of individual members and our community as a whole. And while there are still real challenges and hurdles to conquer, I believe we can mine the collective intelligence of these two organizations to develop and share manageable solutions that will propel the art of marketing and promotion to unimaginable accomplishments.”
Chabin originally served as president of the Promax/BDA organization from 1992 to 1999. Later he joined the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. During his three year absence, the industry faced widespread economic downturn which had a significant impact on the promotion, marketing and design community. Turning to the man who was largely responsible for catapulting the associations into the worldwide spotlight, Promax/BDA Board of Directors wooed Chabin back to spearhead a revitalisation of the organization in November of 2002, states an official release.
Under Chabin’s leadership over the past three years, the associations have expanded the global reach of the organization with the addition of conferences and award programs in Arabia, China and India in addition to invigorating annual events already held for members in North America, Europe, Latin America and the UK. Promax/BDA is also expanding into Africa and the Russian broadcast market. The organization also introduced international one-day promotion and marketing seminars in many key Asian territories last year including Bangkok, Manila, Hong Kong and Jakarta, the release adds.
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.
