News Broadcasting
Hair replaces Ryan as CNN news operations head
MUMBAI: Princell Hair has been named US chief of CNN’s news operations, replacing Teya Ryan, who has quit the company after a long spell of speculation on her departure.
Hair is the new executive vice president and general manager of CNN/US. Earlier, he was vice president of news for Viacom Inc’s Television Stations Group, where he oversaw news coverage. The company has said Ryan, who served as Atlanta-based CNN’s executive vice president and general manager, resigned her post to “pursue opportunities outside the CNN organization”.
Hair, regarded as a veteran of local TV news, oversaw news coverage across the Viacom umbrella of 39 television stations in 15 major US markets. “Princell brings to his new role, demonstrated expertise as a newsroom executive and gifted leader,” CNN News Group President Jim WaltonWalton said in a statement.
According to media reports, Ryan had been facing pressure due to CNN’s plunging ratings and ill-fated shows like Talk Back Live and a primetime programme hosted by Connie Chung.
Hair is to have two deputies – Sue Bonda, promoted to senior vice president for CNN/US, responsible for programming and all editorial content from CNN’s domestic bureaus and Newsource; and Jack Womack, senior vice president for CNN/US, in charge of operations and administration.
Ryan’s anticipated resignation has been the subject of media speculation for several weeks now. Her ascent at CNN coincided with the network falling behind rival Fox News Channel, an arm of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Entertainment Group.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
