News Broadcasting
TV18 announces holding company TV18 Network Ltd
MUMBAI: TV18 has announced consolidation of its media businesses, creating a group structure that is expected to unlock significant shareholder value. Hitherto, the Hindi consumer channel of the Group – “CNBC Awaaz” – and the proposed general news English Channel, were held in promoter entities and were legally not part of the listed Television Eighteen India Limited, due to government restrictions.
The current plan envisages consolidation of both of these channels into the listed entity structure and creation of 2 listed entities – the first one shall be the existing Television Eighteen India Limited, now holding both the business news channels, viz CNBC-TV18 and Awaaz, along with Moneycontrol.com and Commoditiescontrol.com; and a second listed holding company, illustratively titled TV18 Network Ltd, that will hold a 51 per cent plus stake in Television Eighteen India Limited, and a 51 per cent plus stake in the proposed general news Channels, informs an official release.
The restructuring will be achieved through a High Court process whereby the TV18 shareholder will automatically be allotted shares proportionately in the two entities and will now have a legal holding in both Awaaz and the proposed general news English channel, apart from his shareholding in the existing/listed TV18.
The restructuring enables TV18 to comply with the uplinking guidelines of the government, and is sought to be effected in a manner that fully and transparently captures economic value for the TV18 shareholder. The TV18 board has approved the restructuring plan. BMR & Associates are acting as overall financial and transaction advisors, while KPMG India Private Limited has provided indicative valuation guidance for the consolidation.
The new structure is expected to enhance the group’s ability to cater even better to the needs of viewers for accurate, timely and insightful news and information. This also provides the group a platform to embark upon its next phase of growth, having achieved a position of undisputed leadership in the business and consumer news space.
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.
