News Broadcasting
DD getting Indo-Pak telecast rights for free: Sarma
NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: Indian pubcaster Prasar Bharati believes it has got the telecast rights for the upcoming “blockbuster” cricket series between Indian and Pakistan for free? That is the way Parsar Bharati CEO K Sarma has read the Madras High Court’s observation in the cricket telecast case.
According to Sarma,As per the court directives, all the money that is generated in the form of advertising would have to be deposited by the board.Sarma pointed out that in effect Doordarshan was getting the matches absolutely free under the present circumstances. He said that the court will decide in what proportion the revenue generated is to be split amongst the various parties concerned.
Doordarshan would be showing the matches on DDs National terrestrial network and DD Sports, which is a satellite channel.
Sarma emphasizes that as per their understanding of the court order DD has exclusive rights for the Indian terrority.
Which raises the pertinent question. The BCCI, by its own admission, has stated that it lost out on revenues to the tune of Rs 1.5 billion due to the telecast of the the previous three fixtures that were held last October-November involving Australia, South Africa and Pakistan (BCCI silver Jubilee ODI) on national broadcaster Doordarshan.
The value that was attached to this particular series was Rs 1.93 billion.If, as Sarma says, there is a zero payout being made to the BCCI, then the total in lost revenues that the BCCI will be suffering as a fallout from the cricket rights mess till date is a whopping Rs 3.43 billion.
A case of lost opportunity if ever there was one
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.
