News Broadcasting
NDTV to implement 10-40% salary cut
MUMBAI: New Delhi Television (NDTV) has decided to implement a salary cut for employees from 1 April as a cost-cutting measure on the back of decreasing ad revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Says the BSE filing of NDTV: “The management of NDTV Group has been forced to implement a salary cut, effective 1 April, of between 10-40 per cent based on income slabs for a period of three months across its employee base.”
The group points out that it won’t implement a salary cut for those employees who earn Rs 50,000 per month or less than that. It also said that the salary deduction step for three months is subject to detailed review at the end of the period.
NDTV, in its filing, says that this measure is the result of uncertainty surrounding the recovery of the global and Indian economy. And, the falling economic situation has forced the group to undertake certain cost-cutting measures with immediate effect.
The nation-wide lockdown due to the COVID-19 situation has put all business plans on backtrack. The news channels, lately, have been facing the burden of high operating costs with no or fewer ad sales.
The News Broadcasters Association, in this regard, has urged the government to either reduce, remove or bring the goods and services tax on advertisement in line with print media. Currently, the GST on advertisement in the broadcast industry is at 18 per cent, whereas in print media it is at five per cent.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
