News Broadcasting
Entries invited for the ‘Samsung AXN Challenge’ in Phillipines
MUMBAI: In multi-discipline adventure racing, you are only as fast as your slowest team member!
Over the past three years The AXN Challenge has been one of AXN Asia’s biggest initiatives to give viewers the ‘Buzz’ firsthand. This involves teams participating in a variety of physically enduring tests ranging from rope climbing to swimming to Kayaking.
Now the broadcaster has invited entries for the Phillipines leg of the adventure race. Samsung has signed on as the title sponsor.
Previous tournaments were held earlier this year in Hong Kong and Malaysia. The closing date for entries is 12 November. The race takes place on 27 November in the heart of Manila’s concrete jungle and the tagline is Go Where No One Else Dares, Do What No One Else Can.
All aspiring participants over 21 years of age have to do is send in entries comprising of three members. The challenges include running, orienteering, rope works, rappelling, swimming, vertical climbing and kayaking. Entries can be sent to one of the categories: Open Men’s, Open Women’s and Open Mixed. The reguistration form can be downloaded at the AXN Asia site..
Adding a twist are the Mystery Tests. These are usually in the form of tasks that are designed to test the racers ability to work as a team as well as to think on their feet. Often requiring more mind power than just muscle power, these tests also add an element of fun and surprise for the racers.
For the uninitiated The AXN Challenge had been conceived in 2001 as a platform for adventurous, daring and action-orientated individuals who seek outdoor thrills and challenges. The debut event was held in Singapore and attracted 180 participants including local celebrities and TV artistes, . Appealing not just to the seasoned adventurers, The AXN Challenge is unique in that it is also specifically designed to enable urban warriors to compete on an equal footing with veteran racers.
Therefore it is not just sportspersons that take part. The event in the past has attracted a broad spectrum of industry and businesses including professionals, entrepreneurs, chief executives and senior managers.
One challenge and Phillipines is no exception is that teams have to start, pass through each checkpoint and finish as a team. Should any team member fail to complete the race due to injury or any other reason, the whole team will be disqualified. The remaining team members may, however continue to finish the race unranked if they choose to do so.
The interesting and innovative Mystery Tests also provide an opportunity for AXN to integrate sponsors in an interactive and seamles manner. Sony Music, Sky Cable and Gilbeys are a few of the companies that have signed up. This will mark the ninth time that the event has been held.
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.
