News Broadcasting
MIB directs erring MSOs to immediately furnish seeding data
Mumbai: The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has directed erring Multi System Operators (MSOs) to immediately enter/update their seeding data on the ministry’s MIS (Management Information System).
As per the official advisory dated 21 February, despite repeated reminders, many MSOs are not entering/updating their seeding data, i.e the number of active set-top boxes on their network, on the ministry’s MIS. The information regarding the number of cable TV subscribers is considered essential for policy decisions/regulatory issues etc, it said.
It was further stated that failure to submit/update seeding data on MIS will be considered a violation of Rule 10A of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994 and may result in cancellation/suspension of MSO registration granted
Rule 10A of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994, binds, inter-alia, every MSO to give such information as may be sought for by, inter-alia, the central government within such period and such form as may be specified.
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.
