News Broadcasting
‘Sansani’ completes 100 episodes
MUMBAI: Sansani, the daily crime show on Star News has completed 100 episodes. The channel claims to have redefined primetime news on Indian television. The crime show was designed to address the safety and security of the public by and large.
In a statement issued, Star News captured 27 per cent of market share leaving behind the conventional crime shows. Star News CEO and editor Uday Shankar says, “Sansani was an attempt to make news more real and bring in real people and real concerns at primetime and move away from news that was dominated by hackneyed statements, phony concerns and false people. Today we are proud to say that Sansani has succeeded on all these parameters.
“Along the way we are proud to have set new benchmarks. We feel that we have been able to contribute towards making our viewers’ neighbourhood a better and safer place to live in, a fact which gives us deep satisfaction as we roll out the 100th episode,” he added.
As per the TAM data provided by the channel, Sansani gets over 100 per cent growth in viewership on it’s time slot. It’s 27 per cent average market share post launch is above all crime shows that beam across all channels. Aaj Tak’s Vardaat and Zee News’ Crime Reporter with a 23 per cent market share are a distant joint second while NDTV India’s Dial 100 comes fourth at a17 per cent market share. (TG: CS 15+; Market: Hindi Speaking Markets; Period: TAM week 48 ’04 – week 13 ’05).
BAG Films, managing director Anuradha Prasad emphasises, “Sansani is an attempt to make news more real and bring in real people and real concerns.”
Star News also airs Red Alert, Sansani, provides daily account of the latest news from the world of crime, a valuable tip on crime prevention and a section on the ‘most wanted’. The programme recreates the actual scene of crime vividly, wherever needed, to give the viewing audience a real sense of the crime scene.
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.
