News Broadcasting
Asianet announces ‘Idea Star Singer’ winners
MUMBAI: Malayalam channel Asianet has announced the winners of the inaugural edition of its music talent hunt programme Star Singer. In the male category, the top prize was bagged by Arun Raj. Kavita Jayaram pocketed the first prize in the female category.
Vivekanand and Parvati Chandramohan won the top prizes in the male and female category respectively. Midhun M D and Sangeeta made it to the third spot.
The mega final event held in Thrissur was attended by celebrities including the talent hunt judges music director M Jayachandran, playback singers K S Chitra and Tippu.
The top ranked male and female singers will win a chance to sing under music director M Jayachandran for an upcoming movie. Apart from a deal with Satyam Audios, the contest winners will also get the opportunity to perform at various foreign destinations including Dubai and Kuwait. The second prize winner will be offered a playback assignment for a movie to be directed by Ranjith.
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.
