News Broadcasting
Business news anchor Neil Cavuto says goodbye to Fox after 28 years
MUMBAI: His is a familiar face if you watch Fox business news, in your hotel or when you are traveling overseas visiting relatives or friends or on business. Viewers will no longer get to see Neil Cavuto, one of the better known business news anchors, as well as the sr vice-president & managing editor of business news for both Fox News channel (FNC) as well as Fox Business News (FBN)
He also hosts FNC’s Your World with Neil Cavuto, FNC’s Cavuto Live and FBN’s Cavuto: Coast to Coast. In addition to anchoring daily programs and breaking news specials on FNC and FBN, Cavuto oversees business news content for both networks and leads special events coverage for FBN.
Neil, 66, announced his resignation on air during his afternoon show Your World, saying he was not leaving journalism, he was just leaving Fox. One of the first anchors to join Fox News when it launched in 1996, he parachuted from CNBC to the Murdoch owned news station. So he had been there for some 28-odd years.
The bespectacled anchor used to host some 12 hours of shows every week, according to CNN. He was known to be a Trump critic and he would fact check almost every financial and economic statement or assumption his administration or his staff would make. He believe his role as a journalist was to sift the wheat from the chaff and bring the truth to his viewers.
But he lost a lot of his viewers – especially those who favoured the Republicans – because of his Trump trashing, though he also gained some praise from others who liked his penchant for facts.
Trump celebrated his departure by stating: on his Truth Social platform “GOOD NEWS FOR AMERICA! Neil Cavuto, the Lowest Rated Anchor on Fox, by far, is leaving – Should have happened a long time ago!”
According to sources, Cavuto was offered a renewal contract with a lower compensation packet, indirectly asking him to leave. Others see in it a way of cost-cutting in a news industry buffeted by lower ad revenues.
“‘Neil Cavuto’s illustrious career has been a master class in journalism and we’re extremely proud of his 28-year run with Fox News Media,’ the company said in a statement confirming the Cavuto’s departure. ‘His programs have defined business news and set the standard in the entire industry.’”
Most journalists are awaiting what his next move will be.
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.
