News Broadcasting
Ernst & Young submits report on BBC’s financial systems
MUMBAI: Accounting firm Ernst & Young has submitted its revenue to the BBC board of governors about the financial functions of the UK pubcaster.
While the review has concluded that the BBC’s system of financial controls and procedures is fundamentally sound at the same time a number of specific controls need tightening. Some budgetary processes need to be reviewed in the interests of improved accountability and value for money.
The review said the BBC’s policies about discretionary expenditure – including travel, accommodation and staff expenses – covered all the relevant topics. “However, they are often broadly defined and can, therefore, give rise to a range of interpretations.” The firm recommended that the policies be defined more closely.
There was also concern about the number of people who have access to the computer system that manages the BBC’s procurement system – currently 3,000 staff out of a total of 28,000 BBC employees. “Given that inappropriate access increases the potential for corruption or fraud, we recommend that a review of user access is implemented with a view to reducing the extent of access, as appropriate” stated the report.
Responding to the review, BBC chairman Michael Grade said, “The BBC must be conscious always that it is funded by public money. As the custodians of this public money, the Governors have a duty to monitor the BBC’s financial controls.
“The Governors are reassured that this review by Ernst & Young has found the BBC’s overall system of financial controls to be fundamentally sound. As part of our new governance arrangements, the Governors are committed to strengthening our methods for monitoring the BBC’s financial performance and this will include commissioning ad hoc reviews of this type.”
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.
