News Broadcasting
DD shows may come on MTNL, BSNL broadband service
NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati Corporation is attempting to keep up with the times and distribution of DD — and maybe even All India Radio — programmes via a broadband service is one such option on a barter basis where actual cash transactions are eliminated.
While DD programmes on the BSNL broadband network are likely to start off with 35 cities as BSNL has operations in more cities than MTNL, which runs telephony networks in Mumbai and Delhi.
The Corporation has joined hands with yet-to-be-fully corporatised telecom giants Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Ltd. (MTNL) which have a telecom network across the country and are laying fibre optics to delivery of other value added services apart from just telephony and Internet.
Since all the three concerned, Prasar Bharati, MTNL and BSNL, still function as quasi government organisations, the idea is to go in for a barter system where in exchange of content supplied by DD for the telecom companies’ broadband and cable services, airtime will be given to the two organisations on various DD channels.
Reiterating that a memorandum of agreement had been signed by Prasar Bharati with BSNL and MTNL some time back, sources in both BSNL and MTNL indicated that initially DD programmes would be carried on the optic fibre cable network being laid by the two telecom giants.
Core groups have been formed in Prasar Bharati, MTNL and BSNL for this purpose and the groups will look into the aspect of having more synergies between the content providers and carriers.
Both MTNL and BSNL are looking at having other private satellite channels too to hop on to their OFC networks so that the bouquet is attractive enough not only for viewers, but also advertisers.
Though an OFC network will have a lot of bandwidth for carrying a huge amount of content, both data and otherwise, initially Prasar Bharati would like to have five channels on such a network. These channels are likely to be DD National, DD Metro, DD Sports, a regional channel depending on the area of the network, and, possibly, DD Bharti, the art,culture and kids’ channel.
While MTNL is likely to start its broadband service early next year, BSNL will take a slightly longer time to commission its services.
Meanwhile, BSNL has invited EOIs (expressions of intent) from private companies to run its proposed cable TV services in 84 cities across the country, including Delhi’s satellite towns of Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad. BSNL proposes to run these services on franchisee model for its 34 million wiring customers through its OFC network.
Earlier also, Prasar Bharati had been in talks with organisations like MTNL, BSNL and the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, India’s international telecom carrier, for starting a KU-band direct-to-home (DTH) television service. These talks did not yield much result considering the amount of investment that would have been needed for a DTH service in India.
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.
