News Broadcasting
Cox Communications, Universal McCann to explore new advertising platforms together
MUMBAI: Cox Communications, Universal McCann to explore new advertising platforms together.
Cox Communications has announced a collaborative alliance with Universal McCann (UM), the media planning and buying arm of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, one of the world’s largest advertising and marketing communications companies, to bring unique cable television advertising opportunities to Cox communities in the US.
The alliance between Cox and UM represents the first formal relationship of its kind between a cable multiple system operator (MSO) and a major advertising agency. This initiative will explore new advertising platforms appropriate for the broadband-enabled digital video realm, says a release
As Cox continues to develop and deploy new services supported by advanced technology platforms, new avenues are evolving for advertisers, the first among them being the Cox’s forthcoming FreeZone service in California where digital cable subscribers will have access to an advertising-supported video on demand channel – the FreeZone.
Launching in August, FreeZone will feature long format advertising (LFA) and other advertising-supported information and entertainment content such as sports programming. FreeZone will give Cox customers the opportunity to be entertained and to get more information about a product of interest to them than they would be able to from a traditional commercial. All Cox Digital Cable customers in the San Diego area will have access to this service at no additional cost. Among the UM clients confirmed to participate in the FreeZone at the time of launch are Coca-Cola and Epic Records, a division of Sony Music, says the release.
The release says Cox has the opportunity to diversify the sources of its advertising revenue. Advertisers can get their messages across in a more measurable way. The collaborative alliance was initially conceived by UM Futures, the Universal McCann unit that focuses on the evolving digital television landscape. The collaborative alliance with Cox provides UM and its clients with a living laboratory that will enable us to glean valuable insight into consumer reaction to the evolving on demand and interactive television universe, while developing and testing new models for advertiser supported home entertainment.
Cox Communications a Fortune 500 company, is a multi-service broadband communications company serving approximately 6.3 million customers in America.
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.
