News Broadcasting
Convergence legislation 6 months away – Mahajan
NEW DELHI: India will have to wait for at least six months before having a legislation to regulate and govern the convergence space encompassing the sectors of telecom, information technology and broadcasting.
“I foresee the Convergence Bill taking a final shape (after the suggestion of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Telecom & IT) sometime in May,” telecom, IT and parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan said to a query put to him by indiantelevision.com on the sidelines of the ongoing India Economic Summit organized by the World Economic Forum and the CII.
Asked about the status of the Convergence Communication Bill, which had been referred to the Standing Committee last year, Mahajan said, “The parliamentary panel has just submitted its report and in the beginning only some people have said whether the time is ripe for a Convergence legislation. I have not yet gone into the suggestion but will take a holistic approach once the report is studied.”
The Standing Committee, which submitted its report a few days ago to Parliament, has highlighted the fact some people who had deposed before it and sent information on the Bill had questioned the very need for such a piece of legislation at the moment.
According to Mahajan, if there is a need, after studying the Standing panel’s report, ‘another round of debate can be had in Parliament. “But I see the Bill being taken up (for discussion) by the Parliament only during the Budget session and that too in the latter half of the session after the (annual) Budget (of the country) has been discussed,” he added.
Mahajan said that he has asked his ministry to go into the Standing panel’s report on the Convergence Communication Bill that will take into account various comments collated by the panel while preparing its report. “once that has happened only then I can make up my mind and if need be we can have another round of discussion (on the issue) in Parliament.”
Asked whether he is in favour of an overall legislation for the convergence space, Mahajan said, “Personally I am in favour of such a piece of legislation because sometime or other it has to come. Earlier the work on it begins, the better.”
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.
