News Broadcasting
Aditya Birla Group enters media, acquires 27.5 % stake in India Today Group
MUMBAI: Confirming a news report earlier put out by Indiantelevision.com, the $35 billion Aidtya Birla Group has acquired 27.5 per cent stake in Living Media India (India Today Group) through its private investment company.
The transaction is the second high financial investment by a big corporation in the booming Indian media and entertainment industry this year, the other being the Reliance-Network18 deal.
The financial services-to-telecom and retail conglomerate did not disclose the amount it would be paying for the stake purchase.
“The media sector is a sunrise sector from an investment point of view. I believe that Living Media India offers one of the best opportunities for growth and value creation,” said Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla.
The Birla Group will, thus, enter the media sector with a presence across print, publishing, television and radio.
Living Media owns and operates English weekly magazine India Today, business magazine Business Today, English news channel Headlines Today, Hindi news channel Aaj Tak and radio channel Oye FM, among others.
“I am delighted to partner with the Aditya Birla Group to aggressively address the current and future potential of the Indian media business which is at a tipping point. The Aditya Birla Group with its strong leadership, global footprint, diversified business interests and its shared values of integrity, commitment and social responsibility make it a perfect fit with the India Today Group,” said India Today Group chairman Aroon Purie.
Aroon Poorie, the promoter of India Today Group, holds 57.38 per cent stake in TV Today Network as per information on 5 March 2012.
Indiantelevision.com had on 9 April reported that Aditya Birla Group is likely to pick up 25 per cent stake in India Today Group.
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TV Today scrip up 15% on market buzz of Birla Group taking stake in promoter company
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.
