News Broadcasting
Aaj Tak announces the launch of ‘Saare Jahaan Se Sachcha’
MUMBAI: Launch Platform includes the first ever News Roadblock on Aaj tak Prime Time
Aaj Tak, Nation’s most loved, trusted, awarded and viewed news brand has been the leader for 17 years since inception. This feat is matched by no other channel in the TV News Universe, a feat Aaj Tak accomplished because its singular focus on the most important stakeholder, the viewer.
Time and again all major news events have proven that The AAJ TAK brand operates in the highest trust zone, that very few news brands have a right to occupy. The Campaign idea ‘Saare Jahaan Se Sachcha’ draws from what has been the core of Aaj Tak – Fearlessness, Truth and No Compromise. It highlights one of the fundamental needs in the society – to be honest and to be true.
Three TVCs form the heart of the campaign, amplified across ATL and BTL – ‘Trust and Truth’ embodied by Aaj Tak like None Other.
The campaign aims to bring forth the founding principles of Truth & Integrity that have defined the Aaj Tak newsroom for 17 years. Instead of focusing on ‘what’ truth does, the campaign focuses on ‘why’ truth is so important. Why it’s so important to have brands like Aaj Tak – which carry the flag of truth amid unsubstantiated noise.
The campaign is led by 3 TVCs that capture everyday situations in which a common man is duped with the web of lies, when there is no accountability, and no action to put an end to this situation. Each narrative is a hard hitting reality check on the kind of day to day transactions we see all around us. The campaign line – Saare Jahaan Se Sachcha has been thoughtfully conceived to tug at people’s hearts. It re-affirms and connects the positive emotion of India’s iconic song ‘Saare Jahaan Se achchha’ with Brand Aaj Tak, lending it the stature and scale it deserves.
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.
