News Broadcasting
Subrata, not Sahara, logo for Indian team
NEW DELHI: Just as the Indian cricket team prepared for its departure to Colombo for the Champions Trophy, another of the vexed issues dogging the team was sorted out today. Subrata Roy’s Sahara India, the sponsor of the national squad will not be sporting its logo on the team’s flannels.
Instead, the sponsor name will be Subrata. Sahara was barred from appearing as the team logo following objections raised by global ICC sponsor South African Airways, as there was a conflict of interest between SAA and Sahara Airways was the contention.
At a press conference in Delhi today, Roy said that it was only in the national interest that he did not go ahead and sue over the issue as it would have jeapordised the team’s being able to play in the tournament.
LG INDIA NOT TO ADVERTISE ON SONY:
Meanwhile, another global sponsor LG India made it official today that it would not be advertising on Sony Entertainment Television India.
LG India, was the only global partner (the other two being Pepsi and Hero Honda) with direct business interests in India that failed to sign on with SET India over what it termed as unreasonably high ad rates. According to industry sources, at last count it had conveyed to Sony that it was willing to pay in the region of $ 3000 for a 30 second spot.
When it was finally confirmed on Monday that a full strength team would be winging its way to Colombo, it was thought that LG might be willing to reconsider its stance. However, this never happened and LG India marketing head Ganesh Mahalingam had this to say: “I have not signed on with Sony because the rates are to high. I will instead be increasing my exposure to (national broadcaster) Doordarshan instead and that will give me enough and adequate mileage.
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.
