News Broadcasting
Ten Sports, SET beaming into Europe on Pehla DTH platform
MUMBAI: The Dubai-based Arab Digital Distribution (ADD) DTH platform’s Pehla bouquet has started beaming into mainland Europe.
Pehla, which targets South Asian audiences, launched on 1 November as “Pehla – Premium Asian Entertainment Television in Europe”. Speaking about the launch, Vinod DMello executive vice-president, network development & marketing of ADD told indiantelevision.com, “We are building our platform on Hotbird with Irdeto conditional access system. At present during the introductory phase we are offering five channels (Sony Entertainment Television, Geo TV, Ten Sports, EuroSports and Eurosports News) and we will shortly be enhancing the bouquet with additional channels in the basic tier and increased subscription options (Pehla Basic, Pehla Silver, Pehla Gold). The recommended retail price (Introductory offer) is Euro 19.90 per month.”
For Ten Sports, the Europe beam gives the Abdurrahman Bukhatir-promoted channel its first expansion outside South Asia and the Middle East. This is the fourth dedicated feed that Ten Sports will be offering, after the feeds that are currently in operation for India, Pakistan and the Middle East.
D’Mello said Pehla Europe was targeting the south Asian audience of approximately 1.7 million living in mainland Europe with a competitive pricing strategy, flexible subscription and payment options.
In the Middle East the ADD platform is on Nilesat. ADD operates three DTH bouquet offerings – Pehla, First Net (targeted at Westerners) and Al-Awael (aimed at Arabs).
As far as coverage is concerned, the Europe beam is one area where Ten has an advantage over ESPN Star Sports because ESS cannot broadcast outside the Asian region.
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.
