News Broadcasting
NDTV Good Times plans bonanza for viewers on tenth anniversary
MUMBAI: “The great thing about getting older is that you become more mellow,” quoting Irish author, playwright and columnist Maeve Binchy who died in 2012. However, viewers are hoping that the same will not be the case with India’s long-running lifestyle channel, NDTV Good Times, as it becomes all of 10 today.
Launched on 7 September 2007 in partnership with the now allegedly tarred former Indian liquor magnate Vijay Mallya, its intent was to offer a wide range of aspirational lifestyle programming on health, fashion, food, travel, and luxury.
And it has been doing that effectively by engaging and entertaining English-speaking upscale TV audiences in India the US, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Maldives. In India, In fact, it has gone on to define the lifestyle niche – being present across all major cable markets and all six DTH platforms in the country – even as others have fallen by the wayside. (Mallya is no longer associated with the channel, but the Good Times brand has stayed with NDTV Lifestyle – a division under the NDTV network.)
A press release issued by the network says the uniqueness about NDTV Good Times is that “it presents fresh, original programming that gives its viewers mantras on how to enjoy food both highway and Michelin star, find good health through salsa and yoga, follow fashion on ramps both Indian and global and most of all on how to live life to the fullest, no matter where you are. The line-up of shows covers every aspect of the lifestyle genre to portray and cater to an increasingly global India.”
Indeed, some of NDTV Good Times’ shows like ‘Band Baajaa Bride’, ‘Yarri Dostii Shaadi’ and ‘My Yellow Table’ have become iconic.
The channel has won several programming awards at the Indian Television Academy Awards, indiantelevision.com’s The Indian Telly Awards and the World Media Festival for key shows and interstitials like Highway on My Plate, No Big Deal and Making of the Kingfisher Calendar.
And on its tenth anniversary, the channel’s team, says its logo, icons, idents and a vibrant and dynamic colour palette are a testament to its evolution.
“We are continuing to offer programming that is impulsive, interactive and with an attitude to match,” explains NDTV Lifestyle CEO Smeeta Chakrabarti. “We have planned an exciting line-up and fresh seasons of hit shows, starting with My Yellow Table with the popular chef Kunal Kapur. Also planned is an exciting contest to gratify our viewers who could win luxury experiences.”
Adds channel head Arati Singh: “Our focus has always been to provide an immersive Good Times experience through 360-degree multi-platform content. NDTV Good Times inspires its viewers to #LiveYoung and #LiveIndian which has been the channel’s tagline and has been integrated with its social media as well.”
With that kind of go-getter attitude, there’s no stopping the good times for its TV viewers.
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.
