News Broadcasting
CNBC gets into corporate tie-ups for unique promotions
MUMBAI: The country’s leading business channel CNBC India is reaching out to viewers. And not just through the tube.
The channel that brewed an ad contest in association with coffee chain Barista last month, is sending out stress pillows to clients, doctors and stressed executives as a promotional exercise for Good Life, a half hour weekly show that launches on Saturday.
The show that aims to meet the needs of the busy executive is to be presented in association with pharmaceutical company. Good Life will focus on contemporary health issues, and aims to be a practical guide to healthy living. Its various segments will discuss and provide easy health and fitness solutions relevant to the busy, high-stress lifestyle of the corporate executive – current health issues, expert opinion on health problems in focus and tips on exercise and diet. The show will be telecast at 9 pm Saturdays, 9.30 am Sundays and 8.30 pm Wednesdays.
The first of its kind co-promotional partnership between CNBC and Barista for a series of contests for the ad and marketing community between July and September has yielded a good response even from cities like Ahmedabad and Hyderabad apart from metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, say CNBC officials. The contest for the channel’s advertising and marketing show, Storyboard invites creative wizards to showcase their talent in the Storyboard Brew – Crack the Brief’ contest. A cup of Storyboard Brew at any Barista outlet gets an applicant a contest form, which has to be filled with a catchy headline for the visual given. Storyboard promotes the contest within the show and Barista will support the same through placement of promotional items and contest forms at all the outlets. While the channel was offering a grand prize of a Fiat Palio in July, the prize for August is a Europe trip for two, with the contest being made simpler this time.
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.
