News Broadcasting
Southern Spice stakes claim to throne in South
MUMBAI: Even as rumours of an affiliation with music major MTV do the rounds, relative greenhorn channel Southern Spice claims it is the reigning sound of music across television screens in the South.
Quoting TAM data for the week ended 10 April for the 15-34 ABC South India market, the channel says it has a channel share of 41 per cent in the South, much ahead of MTV’s 28 per cent share. Zee Music with a 14 per cent share and Channel [V] with a 11 per cent share are ahead only of B4U Music, which has a single digit share of six per cent, according to the TAM data.
SS Music also claims a cumulative reach of 14.65 per cent, a notch over arch rival MTV’s 12.5 per cent. Channel [V] comes a distant third with 6.81 per cent reach, during the prime time of 4 pm to 11.30 pm.
The channel that recently turned three and is in the process of establishing itself as a premium music brand, says it has a 51 per cent channel share in Tamil Nadu, 47 per cent in Kerala, 33 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and 42 per cent in Karnataka. Interestingly, Karnataka is the only state where its cumulative reach falls substantially below that of MTV, while it is on par with MTV in Kerala and higher than MTV in both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
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.
