News Broadcasting
Pay channels at discounts as initial offering
NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: Hook on early and get to see your favourite pay channels at an attractive “invitation price”. That is the proposition that the pay broadcasters will be giving to consumers to buy set tops and take their channels.
At a meeting of the Indian Broadcast Foundation (IBF) that has just concluded, pay broadcasters had struck a common plan to work with the MSOs to offer their channels at an invitation price that would be valid for a period agreeable to the government.
The feedback from the meeting is that the broadcasters would like to offer this “early bird” scheme for a period of three months. The catch of course is that a recent government notification stipulates that pay channels cannot increase prices within six months of announcing channel rates in a post-CAS regime.
If the government does not agree to a modification of the terms of the notification so as to allow broadcasters to offer early bird schemes applicable for three months, then it is expected that the packages will be valid for six months.
While broadcasters would not offer any clues as to what would be the discounting on offer for those who buy into these schemes, speculation is that it will be in the region of 30 to 40 per cent.
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.
