News Broadcasting
BBC picks up teen drama from FremantleMedia
MUMBAI: Fremantle International Distribution (FID), the distribution arm of global format creator and owner FremantleMedia ,has sold its new teen drama Falcon Beach to the BBC and many other additional international broadcasters. The drama is now set to be broadcast in 18 countries worldwide.
BBC Daytime has secured the UK rights to the edgy new one-hour drama, which premiered on ABC Family in Australia on 5 June 2006. Further significant licensing agreements will see the programme launch on ABC, Australia; RTE, Eire; SBS (Flemish), Belgium; RTM, Malaysia; ANTV, Indonesia; ABC5, Philippines; ETV, Sri Lanka; UBC, Thailand; Show TV, Turkey and Hot, Israel.
These broadcasters join a raft of deals for Falcon Beach already signed with M6, France; TV2, Denmark; TV4, Sweden; TV Norge (SBS Channel), Norway; Channel 4, Finland; Nederland 3, Netherlands and IBC Iceland’s Sirkus.
Falcon Beach is positioned as sexy, edgy and full of energy. It is produced by Insight Productions and Original Pictures, in conjunction with Global Television and ABC Family USA and centres on the lives and loves of the town’s young men and women, as they find their way towards their futures.
Falcon Beach is a quiet lakeside town where locals and summer visitors mingle and where seduction, sand and scandal are abundant. A coming-of-age drama following a group of twenty-somethings, Falcon Beach focusses on friends, families and enemies during a summer of romance and passion, soul-searching and conflicts.
FremantleMedia CEO David Ellender said, “Falcon Beach has received a deservedly warm welcome from broadcasters the world over, and we are certain that all will be delighted with the results it will no doubt deliver. Dramas of this calibre are rare and the broadcasters that have seen the potential of Falcon Beach will soon be the envy of their rivals.”
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.
