News Broadcasting
Arts, current affairs, docs dominate the beebs schedule in the UK
MUMBAI: The BBC launched its statements of programme policy for 2004/2005 in the UK. It will devote more time to arts, current affairs and documentaries.
However BBC Acting DG Mark Byford has clarified that renewing the focus on arts and current affairs did not signal a lack of focus elsewhere at the broadcaster.
Most of the arts shows will be showcased on BBC One. The BBC issued a release stating that the decision was on account of the audiences desire to see more cultural and arts journalism added to its mix of arts programmes. Therefore it will launch The Culture Show later this year.
Meanwhile BBC Two will build a new documentary strand. The subjects cover diverse issues like terrorism, disability, parenting. The channel will also increase its commitment to current affairs by 10 hours. It had recently launched current affairs analysis strand If.
Online the BBC News website on bbc.co.uk will launch Quick Guides in a couple of months time. This will offer extra insight and context to daily news events. Arts programming across the BBC will include a new programme on BBC Four for analysis of the UK and world media.
The BBC added that it framed the statements this year in order to meet the BBC Governors Board’s request that the programme plans be presented in a way that demonstrate how they contribute to delivering the BBC’s public purpose.
Acting BBC Chairman Richard Ryder was quoted in the release saying, “The BBC’s new approach to the statements of programme policy will enable the licence payers to judge the BBC’s performance with greater clarity. On their behalf, the Board of Governors will monitor the BBC’s performance against these committments throughout the year and report its assessment in the Annual Report and Accounts.”
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.
