News Broadcasting
Discovery heads south; launches Tamil feed
Discovery’s mission is clear. Build up the audience base by offering content in regional languages. With this objective in mind the channel on Wednesday announced the launch of a Tamil-language broadcast fuelled by the encouraging response to its 24-hour English and Hindi language feeds.
An official release informs that the channels decision to diversify into Tamil was based on a study that showed that Discoverys viewers who converse in neither English nor Hindi want to watch and understand programmes in their mother tongue. This prompted the channel to move into the region-specific mode and speak the viewers language. The release states that the channel will maintain the relevance and quality of the content through the use of colloquial and viewer-friendly terms and phrases.
For starters the Tamil broadcast will air in the Family Time timeband from 8 to 10 pm, Monday to Friday, with repeat telecast from 10 am to 12 noon. The channels long term goal is to gradually make the broadcast 24 hours a day. Tamil programmes will concentrate on fact based entertainment programnmes which are based on theme nights. They are History on Mondays, Science on Tuesdays, Forensics on Wednesdays, Health on Thursdays and Special Premieres on Friday.
Speaking on the latest initiative MD Discovery Communications India Deepak Shourie said, Discovery in Hindi achieved an enormous jump in viewership for the channel in regions where Hindi is predominant. With Discovery in Tamil, we are confident of attracting a large Tamil-speaking viewer base to the channel and expanding viewership in South India. We decided to begin the Tamil-language broadcast as Tamil Nadu comprises the largest number of cable and satellite television channel viewers in South India. After Tamil, we plan to diversify into more regional languages in South India.”
Reports indicate that the Tamil channel will be followed by a Telugu one. Judging by viewers response the channel will consider launching feeds in Malayalam and Kannada.
The release informs that as of now the Discovery Channel is available in 33 languages worldwide. The Tamil-language broadcast reflects Discovery Channels international strategy to be accessible to the largest number of people and to showcase high-quality global content in region-specific languages.
Launched in India in 1995, Discovery is today the sixth most-widely distributed channel in India and reaches over 21 million households.
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.
