News Broadcasting
Radio City targets Mumbai FM service by April-end?
For all Indian radio FM wannabes, Mumbai is the jewel in the crown. And Radio City, the Star India-backed station, is hoping to see services being launched by April-end, industry sources indicate.
A major hold-up so far has been where to locate the FM towers. Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL), the company promoting Radio City, is looking for a suitable location in the centre of the city and while one or two places have been shortlisted, a final decision is still to be made, sources say.
Sumantra Dutta, Star India’s head of FM operations, however, says that an official communication from the government is still awaited. According to Dutta, the government is still to issue an interim power clearance order and only after that could there be any talk of launching services.
Be that as it may, all the backend for starting operations is almost in place. Sources confirm that 10,000 square feet space in the IL&FS building at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai has been taken up which will house Radio City. While reports say Radio City will move into the new office by early February, this could not be independently confirmed.
Dutta, meanwhile, confirmed that MBPL was re-evaluating the viability of starting FM operations in Patna and Nagpur, two of the six cities (Bangalore, Lucknow, Mumbai and Delhi being the others) for which it had secured licenses. Dutta said the depressed economic scenario that currently exists meant the yearly licence fees of Rs 47.5 million for Patna and Rs 74 million for Nagpur were too steep for any worthwhile returns on investment.
If MBPL does drop its FM plans for Patna and Nagpur, it stands to forfeit the bank guarantees it gave for securing the licenses. This is equivalent to one year’s licence fees for each city.
Star India supplies content and provides sales and marketing support to MBPLs investments in radio while the venture has been promoted by the PK Mittal Group.
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.
