News Broadcasting
Rajiv Vyas joins Optimystix as Director
MUMBAI: Erstwhile IndusInd COO media and communications, Rajiv Vyas has joined television software company Optimystix as the new director marketing and strategic alliances.
A part of several committees and expert panels set up by the government and trade and industry bodies for organising and regulating the broadcast industry, Vyas also has a background in marketing and distribution across media, soft drinks industry, consumer finance and consumer durables.
An official release says that Vyas’ experience will help leverage Optimystix position in both Indian and overseas markets. The release further adds that his addition to the team is vital looking at the digital and television revolution. While the competition is increasing competition, demand quality content has become the key critical factor in driving both advertising and pay TV revenues, Vyas’ entry is likely to bolster the company’s position.
Veteran of several shows including Khul Ja Sim Sim, Khuchh Kar Deekhana Hai, Kissme Kitna Hai Dum and Chalti Ka Naam Antakshri, the production house Optimystix had produced content for Star Sony and Zee. Co-founded by Sanjiv Sharma and Vipul D Shah, its claim to fame is game shows and programming, adapting Western formats to Indian sensibilities.
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.
