News Broadcasting
Tiger Electronics inks deal with Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon
MUMBAI: Continuing its leadership position in the tween electronics market, Hasbro Inc.’s Tiger Electronics has inked distribution deals with Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon to provide content for its new, portable Vugo Multimedia System.
This move is consistent with the Tiger Electronics strategy to replicate the latest technology trends for adults and deliver consumer electronics designed specifically for tweens featuring a library of the must-have content that they demand.
“Portable digital media players are all the rage right now and by partnering with Tiger Electronics Cartoon Network can offer its most popular shows to kids in a format that is perfect for them. The Vugo multi-media player allows us to put our content into the pockets of tweens everywhere. And, as a key content provider, Cartoon Network will provide a free Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends download that will be featured on the Vugo packaging,” said Cartoon Network Enterprises senior vice president John Friend.
“As the number-one entertainment brand for kids and the top rated television network for tweens, we’re excited to bring Nickelodeon’s leading properties to the launch of Vugo. In addition to reaching Nick fans on-air, on-line, and through new technologies including mobile telephone content, Vugo offers us a new path to serve tweens, wherever they may go,” said Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products senior vice president entertainment products Stephen Youngwood.
Available this November, the portable Vugo Multimedia System gives tech-savvy tweens access to their favorite TV shows, music and photos all in one sleek and stylish multimedia system made just for them. Some of the hottest TV shows and premium programming will be available for purchase at www.VUGO.com. Kids can also put their own content onto the Vugo player.
“We are thrilled to have alliances with both Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, as Tiger Electronics continues to deliver the kind of exciting, must-have entertainment that our tween audience loves,” said Hasbro’s US Toy Segment president Brian Goldner.
Cartoon Network content available for download includes: Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, Dexter’s Laboratory, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ed, Edd n Eddy and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.
Tween favorites from Nickelodeon available for download includes: SpongeBob SquarePants, Danny Phantom, Jimmy Neutron, Unfabulous, Rocket Power and Teenage Robot.
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.
