News Broadcasting
ESS urges Hathway subscribers to switch to Zee DTH
MUMBAI: The ongoing face-off between sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports and cable MSO Hathway Datacom that has left soccer enthusiasts gnashing their teeth in frustration has taken an interesting new turn.
ESS today exhorted subscribers of the Rajan Raheja-promoted Hathway (in which Star India officially has a 26 per cent stake) hit by the switch-off of its signal to opt for Zee’s DTH platform Dish TV.
A statement issued by ESS even provides a toll free number on which viewers can call to get Dish TV installed.
ESS accuses Hathway of refusing to “respond to all efforts made to resolve the pending outstanding issue.” ESS has further charged that Hathway has not paid the monthly subscription fees due to it since February and has not honored various commitments made, including the signing of a service contract. ESS’ argument is that it has been “left with no choice but to discontinue its services to Hathway till the outstanding amount is realized and a service contract is executed.”
Countering ESS’ assertions, a release issued by Hathway late this evening has termed the sports broadcaster’s contention as “mala fide, baseless and false.” Putting forth its case, the statement issued by the MSO says, “During the past few years Hathway has paid subscription fee in excess of Rs 40 crores (Rs 400 million) to ESS. It is surprising that ESS is wrongly publishing malicious propaganda against Hathway. In the last several years not a single pay channel broadcaster has shut off signals to Hathway. Hathway has always been prompt and regular in its dealings with all broadcasters including ESS.”
“The current dispute is a deliberate ploy by ESS arbitrarily seeking to hike the monthly rates in violation of the TRAI order, which has frozen all the pay channels rates as well as the cable subscription fee,” Hathway has stated, further accusing it of refusing “to accept Hathway’s cheques deliberately to instigate a crisis.”
Whatever may be the contentions of the two parties to this dispute, the fact is that soccer and tennis enthusiasts who subscribe to Hathway are missing out on the Euro 2004 and Wimbledon action.
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.
