News Broadcasting
TWI extends contract with FA Premier League
MUMBAI: TWI has announced that it was re-appointed by the FA Premier League to be its production partner. TWI will produce and distribute all its matches of the season for the TV market.
The three-year-deal will offer international licencees of the Premier League all 380 matches of the season live via satellite. It also covers annual production of 41 weekly preview shows and 33 highlight shows.
The new venture will be known as FA Premier League Productions and is based at TWIs UK production base in Chiswick London.
TWIs director of programming and production, sport Graham Fry added, “Our relationship with the Premier League has been ongoing for the past six years. The Barclays Premiership continues to be a global success and together with the FA Premier League, TWI is confident that we will be able to achieve even greater heights in building its popularity and profile worldwide over the next three years.”
Premier League CEO, Richard Scudamore said, “The Barclays English Premier League is broadcast in over 160 countries with a global home reach in excess of 570 million, making it the worlds most watched domestic league competition.
“To ensure that we consolidate and develop this position, it is crucial the quality of production matches the quality of our competition, especially given the increase in the number of games available. We have every confidence that our continuing relationship with TWI, in the guise of FA Premier League Productions, will ensure the high standards our international broadcast partners have come to expect will carry on and improve.”
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.
