News Broadcasting
Headlines Today claims 27% growth in viewership base
MUMBAI: ‘We continue to make ‘Headlines’’. That is the claim made by TV Today Network’s English news channel Headlines Today’s claim. Quoting TAM figures for the week 43, ending 23 October, Headlines Today claims that it has continued to climb the popularity charts and now commands 27 per cent market share amongst the English news channels, leaving the likes of CNN, BBC and CNBC trailing behind. The release issued by the company claims that the channel reach has crossed 10 million homes mark, almost double the all India reach of CNBC.
Headlines Today claims to have shown all-round growth in viewership, reach and time spent. Also on the parameter of time-spent, Headlines Today with 11 minutes shares the top position with its nearest rival NDTV 24X7.
The release claims that the spurt in growth has been noticed since the time they started a 360 degree campaign comprising hoardings, bus shelters, web postings, newsletters and newspaper ads. The release says that the 27 per cent viewership growth is seen both the six metros (key market comprising Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore) and all India markets.
In addition to that, the release claims that Headlines Today’s flagship programmes – Head Start, Top Five Today and Sports Quarter have emerged as strong contenders in their respective time-band across the English news channels.
The release informs that Headlines Today has a number of programming initiatives in the pipeline, which are due in the next one month.
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.
