News Broadcasting
Red FM and ‘DNA’ ink content sharing deal
MUMBAI: Content sharing and co-branding is the wave of the broadcast media market, at present. Taking a cue from the emerging trend, the radio arm of the India Today Group – Red FM 93.5 and the print venture of the Dainik Bhaskar Group and Zee TV Daily News Analysis (DNA) have signed a content sharing deal.
The strategic alliance between DNA and Red FM will be in the areas of content, music and entertainment, Bollywood, movie marketing, ground tie-ups and promotions.
Recently, Red FM revamped its brand position in a bid to reinvent with the philosophy ‘Awaaz Uthaate, Red Bajaate Raho’ and DNA being a new brand in the print medium market possess the philosophy on similar lines – ‘Speak Up.’ Hence, this marriage makes a perfect sense to gain and maximise through its respective brand equity, says Red FM COO Abraham Thomas.
DNA sales and marketing head Suresh Balakrishnan pretty much echoed what Thomas had to say.
In this context DNA president Pradeep Guha says, “The strong media platforms of Red and DNA are very apt to promote each other’s properties and brands, and merging the audience base of the two will only help create a larger and stronger loyalty base.”
The strategic alliance enables complete synergy as the two media complement each other in their very nature of being local, city-centric and integral to the fabric of Mumbai.
Through this alliance both brands will be able expand respective veiwership and listenership. Thomas states, “With our philosophy we will be able to target every segment of Mumbai. I am excited about the alliance as both of us share a common philosophy and it offers immense scope for synergy across content, marketing, causes and alliances. Together we will nicely complement each other to be an integral part of Mumbai.”
“Through DNA’s page two, which is identified as — ‘Speak Up’ and with our philosophy of ‘Bajaate Raho’ both the brands will voice the common man’s concerns while maintaining the essence of entertainment,” he adds.
The two will leverage the platform for ground events and Bollywood aspects. In a bid to explore more platforms, Thomas adds that it is likely that there is a possibility to tap big music stores and outlets such as Music World for content like Top 30 Bollywood song. Both platforms will pool in resources to create content such as Top 30 Bollywood song and concurrently create more stimulating content besides sharing content.
Thomas voiced that movie marketing promotions indeed seemed like a good proposition and the two brands would maximise on the same and explore this platform jointly.
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.
