News Broadcasting
Nick’s Kids’ Choice Awards on 12 April
CALIFORNIA: Nickelodeon will once again give kids the chance to vote for their favourite movie and music stars when its 16th Annual Kids Choice Awards is held on 12 April.
The event – which has evolved into a pint-sized Oscar ceremony, takes place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California The show will be seen in more than 120 million households on Nick’s international channels in Asia, UK, Europe, Russia, Asia, Australia, Latin America and Brazil.
Rosie ODonnell will host proceedings for the seventh time running. An official release informs that this years awards will take the stars, music and mess to the next level with a video-game theme that will make Nick viewers feel they are virtually part of the show This years show will feature edgy, state-of-the-art technology that will replicate a live video game – filled with stars, music and mess.
Celebrity presenters will complete fantastic challenges and face-off with virtual-reality nemeses. Kids at home will also be invited to participate in the live show through real-time voting.
Box office hits Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ice Age and Spiderman are competing for the kids favourite film titles this year. The wizard Potter also figures in the favourite book and favourite video game categories. Spiderman also features in the favourite video game category as well as favourite male butt-kicker (Tobey Maguire). Three-time nominee Jennifer Lopez ranks as this years most nominated female entertainer with recognition for song, actress and singer.
Justin Timberlake leads the men with a total of three nominations: one for male singer and two-shared nominations with his NSYNC band members for music group and song.
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Log onto www.NickKCApress.com for further updates.
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.
