News Broadcasting
Channels seek clarity, relevance from animation producers
MUMBAI: One of the sessions at Frames focused on what content channels like Cartoon Networks, Disney expect from the production houses and studios.
Walt Disney Television International (South East Asia/Korea) VP, MD Raymund Miranda said, “From an editorial perspective the first thing that goes into our minds is does the product you are pitching fit the Disney brand? The Disney brand is family oriented and trustworthy. We have to be custodians of our brand
“The second tick mark is relevance to kids. For instance for our preschool block we check to see if the social and mechanical skills of the child are being addressed. We follow the principle of the whole child curriculum here. The third criteria are the brand values of the proposition being made by the production house. What is the story like? How is it being told? This includes not just the animation quality but also the dubbing, editing. The product should be able to occupy a special place in the heart of our viewers.”
Turner Entertainment Networks Asia executive director programming and acquisitions Marc Buhaj said, “The product must be relevant to the 4-14 year block. I also urge the production houses to study the channels before pitching their products. That way they will get an idea of the direction the channels are moving in and what the different requirements are. The stories should also spark with positive and creative qualities. We also expect that the producer would have fully fleshed out the story idea in terms of the script, the pilot episodes before making the pitch.”
He elaborated on how Cartoon Network works within different cultural contexts. For in the Philippines the American cultural context is prevalent. Therefore shows that succeeded in the US generally fare well there as well. Taiwan has the Japanese cultural context. “So you have Japanese anime like the Miyaki series. In Australia we get more bold and mischievous. For the Queen’s birthday we had our characters not wearing pants. In India launching Pogo allowed to work on the live action platform like the movie Harry Potter. The name Cartoon Network implies just cartoons and nothing else.”
Miranda said that Disney has had success working with local producers in Hong Kong on the interstitial video production Legends of the King of Fire. Each interstitial lasted for around five minutes. Channel ratings went up by 67 per cent and it is now being adopted by other markets. Buhaj added that choosing shows was not just a matter of whether it had enough legs. Scheduling becomes important. “We identify hot spots like Diwali and plan around them. Also when the kids have exams we do not plan premieres.”
Publishing firm Mallard Media Services’ Margaret Donald said that channels had a social responsibility towards kids. “I am disturbed that a lot of violence is being fed to kids under the action tag. Simplicity and integrity are key ingredients that go towards making a classic brand. There is a need for more wholesome material. We are looking to partner with Indian production companies.”
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.
