News Broadcasting
TV Today Networks seeks FIPB clearance to induct foreign equity
TV Today Networks, promoter of leading Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, has applied to the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) seeking permission to induct foreign equity, senior government sources revealed today.
GE Capital, the finance arm of General Electric, proposes to take a roughly 5 per cent stake in TV Today, which is why the FIPB application is being made, the sources say.
Efforts to get in touch with Aaj Tak CEO G Krishnan proved futile as he is abroad at the moment.
TV Today’s quest for fresh funds may well be linked to reports that that the group is planning to launch an English news channel before the year is out.
The success of Aaj Tak, which broke even in seven months of its launch on 1 January 2001 and made it to the top slot despite not having a first mover advantage would certainly make TV Today an attractive proposition for any prospective investor.
If reports that Aaj Tak is planning an English news channel prove true, it will enjoy first mover advantage as there is no purely English news channel broadcasting out of India at the moment. Prannoy Roy’s NDTV is also reportedly planning an English and Hindi news channel that will launch simultaneously immediately after its divorce with Star India is formalised in March 2003.
Of course, it may just be that TV Today is only looking for some serious money to buttress Aaj Tak as it girds to do battle with the new avatar that Star News will present to the world come 1 April 2003.
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.
