News Broadcasting
Turner and Speedcast ally in Asia for streaming CNN live
HONG KONG: SpeedCast, a satellite-enabled broadband ISP in Asia, and Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific have announced that the latest news headlines on CNN and CNNfn channels can be accessed on SpeedCast’s multimedia service, NetTV. NetTV is a closed broadband network for SpeedCast ISP partners’ broadband subscribers in the region.
Under the terms of agreement, Turner Broadcasting has licensed SpeedCast CNN and CNNfn channels to stream live on its NetTV service in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong (CNNfn only), Taiwan (CNNfn only) and South Korea (CNN only). Broadband subscribers to SpeedCast’s ISP partners will be also be able to access CNN’s news and financial programming on their desktop PCs on a 24-hour basis.
According to the press release, CNN chose SpeedCast as its regional streaming technology and distribution partner due to its superior technological capabilities and expertise. SpeedCast’s proprietary encryption system, MediaVault, can encode CNN and CNNfn live content into streaming media format as well as to encrypt content against unauthorised use. Additionally, SpeedCast also uses a satellite network to bypass public Internet congestion whilst transmitting data, distributing streaming content to strategically located edge servers thereby ensuring a consistent, high-quality multimedia viewing experience by NetTV subscribers from any location in Asia.
SpeedCast NetTV service is available to ISPs throughout Pan Asia. The press release states that SpeedCast’s ISP partners have an estimated addressable market of 8 million broadband users, who can subscribe to the NetTV service.
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.
