News Broadcasting
Star Movies claims clear lead over HBO
NEW DELHI: Which is the best of the lot? Star Movies, armed with TAM data, has claimed that it is dominating viewership (target group: C&S SEC AB 4+ homes, nine cities for Fri, Sat, Sun 1900-2400) for the weekend slot : in June, Star Movies had an audience share of 1.49, almost double of HBO (0.76), and far higher than the others like AXN (0.39), Zee MGM (0.24) and Hallmark (0.03) over the weekends.
An official release states Star Movies beat HBO every week this year, across 15 markets. To buttress its argument the release makes the following points:
• Star Movies, early this year, was the top performing channel in India with this year’s broadcast of the Oscars.
• It holds the ratings record for the top three movies Titanic, Jurassic Park and Lost World ever to air in India (see ratings chart)
• Watched by over 40 million people over the last three months.
• The channel reaches 3 out of 4 upmarket men with cable across the last quarter (April to June).
• The largest studio portfolio of any movie channel.
• Exclusive access to the most successful movie franchises of all time – James Bond and Star Wars films
• Exclusive rights to Live broadcast of the Oscars, and also some special events like World Heavyweight Championship Boxing (the Lewis Vs Tyson bout was shown on the channel).
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.
