News Broadcasting
NDTV India reverts to pay channel from FTA
MUMBAI: NDTV has decided to convert its free to air (FTA) channel NDTV India as a pay channel with effect from 15 September. On 8 April 2016, NDTV India, the Hindi news channel, started its FTA journey. Prior to that, the channel was a paid service priced at Rs 3.37 on direct-to-home (DTH) and addressable platforms.
The channel will be priced at Rs 0.85 for addressable platforms.
A public notice issued by NDTV stated, “This is to inform viewers of NDTV that its channel NDTV India (Hindi language news channel) which is a free to air channel in India would be a pay channel across all platforms effective midnight of 15 September 2018.”
In FY17, NDTV’s subscription revenue stood at Rs 42.1 crore compared to Rs 42.5 crore in the previous fiscal. The subscription revenue comprised 11 per cent of the company’s total revenue during the fiscal year.
NDTV India was following a trend in the market when it made the decision to go FTA. After NDTV India’s decision to go FTA, Zee News and News18 India (earlier IBN7) had also gone FTA in the same year.
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.
