News Broadcasting
Columbia Tristar unleashes campaign web for Spiderman in India
Columbia Tristar is banking on film property Spiderman to weave a web of magic in India. That the movie major’s expectations are high can be gauged from the fact that the marketing and promotional campaign commenced on 12 April, a full six weeks ahead of the film’s release.
The film directed by Sam Raimi, titled A Simple Plan will release on the 24 May, simultaneously in four languages: English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
The campaign kicked off with ads displaying the caped figure appearing on the back of BEST buses in Mumbai. Ads have alson been used in local trains, publicty agents say. Theatres have started showing trailers showcasing the dares and escapades of the character who used to appear as a cartoon on national channel Doordarshan years ago. At the Deep Purple concert last week in Mumbai, video trailers of the film were shown to people inside the venue. Flyers were also distributed.
The company has tied up with sify.com for a microsite. A contest giving free tickets to the film is currently running on the site. At Worli in central Mumbai, a 30 foot cut out of the caped figure will go up in a balloon. Hoardings can be seen in prominent city locations. An aggressive in your face print campaign is all set to roll on Friday, with a full page ad in local publications.
The Making of Spiderman’ has already been shown on AXN and Sony.
Abroad Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment and Sony Electronics e-Solutions Company have launched the official Spider-Man Online Store on Sonystyle.com. Consumers can click on http://www.sonystyle.com/spiderman and choose from official movie merchandise including action figures, posters, toys, and exclusive cast and crew apparel. Online offerings include super-poseable action figures featuring Spider-Man and Green Goblin, a replica of the Spider-Man movie poster, the movie soundtrack and the Spider-Man Web Blaster toy. In India, Columbia Tristar is mulling the possibility of connecting further with Spiderman fans by selling toys and other merchandise inside theatres screening the film.
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.
