News Broadcasting
Madhuri event ousts regular movie from Sunday prime time slot on Star Plus
MUMBAI: It ain’t exactly stealing a march, but it certainly looks like an effort to steal some thunder.
Star Plus may not have what Sony has bagged in Bollywood screen siren Madhuri Dixit who is fronting a SET show, but the channel isn’t letting go without making a point of its own. That could well explain why a Star Special Event called Madhuri Magic replaces a Star Mast Movie, Jhooth Bole Kauva Kaate, on 21 July at 8 pm.
The concert, says Star, will also feature some of the biggest names from the industry like Rani Mukerjee, Sanjay Kapoor, Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Vinod Rathod, Adesh Shrivastava, Inder Kumar and some great dances from Dil to Pagal Hai, Tezaab (Ek Do Teen) and Anjaam. Bollywood biggies like MF Hussain, Saif Ali Khan, Govinda, Saroj Khan and ‘Rikku’ Rakesh Nath will also be on screen.
Sony recently announced its new show Kahin Naa Kahin Koi Hay with Madhuri Dixit as its star anchor. The show is the one that has fired the channel’s ambitions of reaching for the number one position among satellite channels. If it can be any consolation to Star, KNKKH is being pitched as Sony’s KBC.
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.
