News Broadcasting
Policymakers should create single national policy for M&E sector: K Madhavan
Mumbai: Policymakers should create a single national policy for the media and entertainment sector, said CII national committee chairman and The Walt Disney Company and Star India country manager and president K Madhavan at the 10th edition of the CII Big Picture Summit on Wednesday. “Regulations like new tariff order (NTO) 1 and 2 did not address the interests of any stakeholders including consumers,” Madhavan stated.
The event was attended by Trai chairman Dr PD Vaghela and ministry of information and broadcasting secretary Apurva Chandra. The summit was a gathering of stakeholders in the media and entertainment industry to achieve the goal of reaching $100 billion.
In his speech, Madhavan noted that given the “power and influence” of the TV broadcast industry, it is essential that it be allowed to “freely flourish” with the power to “self-regulate.” “Self-regulatory bodies for both TV and digital are working extremely well in India, and have proved that they can effectively handle complaints and concerns without any interference from policymakers and regulators,” he said.
He acknowledged Dr Vaghela for taking a keen interest to address the concerns of the industry on priority and hoped for a “positive and proactive” approach from the regulator going forward. Madhavan stressed the need for a national policy that could guide regulators for years to come and ensure that consumers, the industry, and all stakeholders find certainty and clarity in equal measure.
The Indian media and entertainment industry is creating 2500 hours of original content each year for OTT and over 100,000 hours of content for television. The gaming industry caters to 420 million casual gamers and the AVGC sector provides high-quality, cost-effective content for the global market. The M&E industry also promotes India’s soft power across the world, in addition to directly and indirectly employing 4.5 million people. Ancillary industries like education, tourism, and even software are all boosted as the creative economy grows.
Madhavan observed, “Ten years back, television had started migrating customers to digital, and HD channels were just being launched. There were barely 13 million broadband subscribers, and users spent only eight hours a month watching videos online. Today, we have about 800 million broadband internet users and 600 million smartphone users, and Indians watch over five hours of online video content a day compared to the global average of four hours a day. India is a digitally active country with a massive and diverse consumer base with a very high level of appetite for entertainment.”
“Our film industry is eager to bounce back from the pandemic. CII, working alongside the Government of India, will seek to represent India at all the major film festivals in the upcoming year,” he concluded.
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.
