News Broadcasting
Radio City to open Lucknow station in December
Radio City, the Star India-managed private FM radio station that has had a successful debut in Bangalore, plans to open its next station in Lucknow in December.
India’s first private FM radio station launched its first station in Bangalore in July. According Sumantro Dutta, COO (Radio) Star India: “We are interested in Lucknow as it is one of the major cities of India and hence it has great potential. We would like to be present in this market.” Queried on when he expected to launch services in Mumbai and Delhi, Dutta said: “We are still awaiting a few clearances from the government.”
Star will conduct market research in Lucknow as it had earlier done in Bangalore in order to ascertain what the preferences of the people of Lucknow are. But Dutta said that at this point it was too early to say anything about the nature of content on the channel.
Regarding advertising potential Dutta said: “There has been a great response from advertisers (local & national) for Lucknow as this will open up opportunities for an extremely cost effective advertising medium and going by the popularity of Radio City in Bangalore, we are hoping the same will happen in Lucknow, thereby bringing a large sets of new audiences to 24-hours non-stop FM radio.”
Dutta gave five reasons for the popularity of Radio City in Bangalore: programming & content, station packaging, the seamless nature of the station, the kind of RJ’s the station had, and of course the obvious one – the sound reception quality at the listener end.
Questioned as to how Star was planning to expand advertising revenue regarding radio Dutta said: “We plan to grow the advertising pie by exploring unconventional means of advertising on radio & opening up opportunities for new categories of advertisers to use radio. That in itself is a huge task.”
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.
