News Broadcasting
Star News to launch three shows in December
MUMBAI: Even as Star News plans to launch a full-fledged crime news channel, it seems to be testing the waters with two new crime shows that will go on air soon.
Early December will see the launch of Insaaf Ka Tarazu and Sansani. Star News already airs a successful weekly crime-based show Red Alert, which is produced for the channel by BAG Films.
Additionally Star News, which has introduced some changes in the programming line up recently, is also launching Janbaaz in December. “A weekly show, Janbaaz talks about acts of bravery shown by ordinary people in real life situations. The unsung heroes will be honoured and we will also take up the bravery acts which go unreported,” says Star News brand manager Keertan Adyanthaya.
According to Adyanthaya, “There is no scarcity of crime shows in the country. The TAM statistics suggest that crime-based programmes garner ratings in line with other popular genres like political news and lifestyle shows. Our Red Alert show, in fact, has been topping the rating charts.”
Sansani will air from Monday to Friday, while Insaaf ka Tarazu , a weekly show, will be based on court cases. The novelty factor in the latter is that viewers too would be involved and, as per a proposal, may also get to be
the judge for cases.
Crime-based shows seem to be the flavour of news channels. While NDTV 24X7 has Dial 100 and Crime and the City, Aaj Tak has Jurm. Zee News has Crime File and Crime Reporter while Sahara Samay Rashtriya airs Charge Sheet.
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.
