News Broadcasting
News channel Aaj Tak completes a year in operation
Exactly a year ago on 31 December, 2000, 24-hour Hindi news channel Aaj Tak was launched by India Today Group.
Today, the channel claims to enjoy a share of over 55 per cent in Hindi speaking markets within the news genre with viewers spending as high as 70 minutes weekly watching the channel. Aaj Tak CEO G Krishnan, said: “The viewership is a true reflection of the appreciation that we have received from the viewers & the advertising fraternity.”
As far as the advertising is concerned, one big success that Aaj Tak has chalked up is in managing to mop up a wide range of ads from players who were traditionally not known to set aside budgets for television.
The channel’s aim is to bring in-depth & incisive coverage to viewers and has listed the following events as being worthy of note:
On Republic Day (26 January) when the a devastating earthquake struck Gujarat it had round the clock coverage of the earthquake-ravaged state. A highlight was a unique platform – Meri Aawaz Suno (here my voice) – where people spoke their views and how their lives were affected.
In June it was in Nepal with extensive reports and analysis by teams stationed in the Himalayan kingdom when the Royal Nepali prince killed his entire family in a fit of jealousy.
During the Agra Summit the channel claims to have set up a team of 24 members to cover Pakistan President Musharaf’s visit to India. A correspondent was sent to Islamabad for the perspective on the summit from across the border.
Like other channels Aaj Tak kept the events of 11 September in focus. Aaj Tak claims to be the first Indian news channel to reach Afghanistan after US bombings commenced.
The channel claims that within half an hour of the 13 December terrorist attack on Parliament, it had the minister for parliamentary affairs Pramod Mahajan live from inside the Parliament on the line. This was followed by exclusive interviews of George Fernandes (defence minister) and information & broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj.
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.
