News Broadcasting
Star applies for news uplink licence; seven Indian stakeholders reportedly on board
MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: With seven Indian stakeholders reportedly on board, Star India today announced it had applied to the information and broadcasting ministry for permission to uplink its Star News channel from India.
The application has been made under the guidelines issued by the government of India on 26 March for uplinking of news and current affairs TV Channels from India.
Star announced that it had restructured its news channel business so as to conform to the guidelines. As of now Star holds 26 per cent of of the total paid-up capital in Star News with the remaining 74 per cent held by resident Indians.
While Star would not offer any confirmation on who the Indian stakeholders were, reliable industry sources have thrown up the following names: Kumarmangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, in his personal capacity, Suhail Seth, regular Page 3 face and CEO of Equus Red Cell advertising firm, Vir Sanghvi, television personality and editor of the Hindustan Times, Rian Karanjiwala, the Delhi-based legal advisor to the Star Group, Balaji Telefilms chairman Jeetendra Kapoor and the head of a financial institution in his personal capacity.
Two names have cropped up regarding the last mentioned equity holder. It could be either Hemendra Kothari of DSP Merill Lynch, the FII that was mandated by Star to structure the Star News deal and find Indian partners, or Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra. Interestingly, a name that was earlier doing the rounds, Sunil Alagh, the controversial former head of bakery and dairy products major Britannia Industries Ltd, is missing from the list of would-be Indian partners. Replacing him as the seventh equity holder is his wife, television actress Maya Alagh.
As per the information available with indiantelevision.com, Birla holds a 25 per cent share in the Star News venture. Although that means that Birla holds just 1 per cent lesser shareholding than Star, the Rupert Murdoch company still holds the controlling stake. This is because veto power on decisions is possible only if the equity is 26 per cent and above.
At the time of posting this report, the shareholding pattern of the other six Indian partners was not known with any degree of certainty by indiantelevision.com.
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.
