News Broadcasting
Zee readies launch of five new serials
Come February and the question of whether the Zee empire can strike back after the disaster that was 2000 should become clear. Five new serials are ready for launch and there is a lot riding on them as chairman Subhash Chandra takes his channel back to the future with its core competence of making great programmes.
The five new serials are ‘Samander’, ‘Aanchal Ke Chaon Mein’, ‘Gardish’, ‘Anokhee’ and ‘Kaise Kahoon’, as per the channel sources
Two of the serials would be aired at prime time. And others are likely to be slotted at noon
According to press reports, ‘Gardish’, produced by Ravi Rai, will be telecast every Tuesday while ‘Aanchal’ will be aired every Wednesday. These are the days when Zee’s television rating points (TRPs) are the lowest.
The latest Intam data for the three-week period starting December 18, 2000, indicates that Zee’s TRPs have seen a sharp fall in the 9:30 pm to 10 pm slot for Tuesday and Wednesday while, on Monday, Thursday and Friday, the ratings were comparatively 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.
