News Broadcasting
Viacom’s CEO visits Dubai International Film Festival
MUMBAI: The second editon of the on-going Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), organised by the Dubai Media City, was attended by Viacom chairman and chief executive officer Sumner Redstone and noted Bollywood filmaker Subhash Ghai amongst others.
Redstone last visited Dubai fives year ago. He meet with the top executives at Showtime, a leading digital satellite pay TV network in the Middle East, of which Viacom is a shareholder, according to media reports.
Viacoms stable of global brands such as CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon and Vh1 have their presence in the Middle East through Showtime.
Showtime is the official broadcaster and a Gold sponsor of the DIFF. As part of the partnership with DIFF, Showtime has launched a free-to-air 24-hour channel called DIFF TV, which provides comprehensive information and coverage of all the major red carpet events, as well as behind-the-scenes interviews with the actors, producers and directors of the movies being shown during DIFF 2005.
Amongst the others were Hollywood actors Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne, Hugh Dancy, Terence Stamp, actress Diane Kruger and also the Canadian-based filmmaker Deepa Mehta.
At the film festival, 98 movies from 46 countries will be showcased over the week, starting from 11 to 17 December. The second edition also includes new sections in films focusing on cinema from Africa, Europe and East Asia, an expanded palette of Arab cinema and a special programme dedicated to young and upcoming UAE filmmakers.
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.
