News Broadcasting
ZEE News kicks off its election programming with ‘Bhai vs Bhai’
MUMBAI: As election season kicks in, Zee News has launched a series of new shows which highlight and discuss the issues around upcoming assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Among these are 'Taal Thok Ke: Special Edition' which caters to the issues related to elections with esteemed panel of politicians and 'India ka DNA Test City Edition' in which ZEE News anchors and reporters discover which way the election wind is blowing in different cities.
Another content innovation which will hook the viewers is 'Bhai vs Bhai'. The new show will start airing from October 10 and will be telecast at 7pm from Monday to Friday.
'Bhai vs Bhai' will be hosted by two brothers – Shehzad and Tehseen Poonawalla. While Shehzad – earlier in Congress – rose to prominence after he claimed Rahul Gandhi's election as party's president was rigged, his brother Tehseen has been in the news for filing several PILs in high profile cases like the Rafale deal, Aadhaar case and against the protests before release of 'Padmaavat'.
ZEE News believes that the political discourse which happens in families in India is very important, and that is why this new 'family show' will be hosted by two brothers. Both the hosts will hold debates, conversations and arguments with the same fervour which is usually heard during debates among family members. The show will also include a segment called 'Pariwar Ki Baat' in which we will go door-to-door and talk to different families in order to know the actual issues and gauge the mood of general public.
'Pariwar ki Baat' in itself will be a unique show which will showcase real political arguments that happen between a father and a son, two brothers or other family members.
ZEE News believes politics should not be ignored, otherwise it will ignore the public. 'Bhai vs Bhai' will be family dose of politics, a school which we invite you to be a part of. This school is going to teach you 'smart politics'.
This is an attempt to make people politically aware before the 2019 elections. Apart from making people aware about Constitution, democracy, rights and duties, our shows will also take up day-to-day affairs to build a logical public opinion on them.
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.
