News Broadcasting
Zee Network Q1 2002 net profit estimated at Rs 490 m.
MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms, which is scheduled to declare its results for the first quarter (Q1) ended 30 June 2002 today, is expected to post a roughly 18 per cent fall in net profit from the previous quarter, analysts that indiantelevision.com spoke to indicated.
Zee Tele’s net should end up in the range of Rs 490 million in this quarter on a consolidated gross of Rs 2,580 million. In the previous quarter, Zee achieved a net profit of Rs 599.1 million on a consolidated gross of Rs 3,243 million. One common refrain among the analysts was that Zee has for long been entering into its books a substantial amount of ad revenue profits that was in effect pre-booked and therefore does not really add to the company’s bottomline.
They are expecting the media major to make the correction at some point through a write-off but do not see that happening in this quarter.
Quarter-on-quarter, sales growth has been forecast as being flat or negative.
Investors have in recent times turned bearish on the share and its price has been headed southwards with its price currently in the Rs 120 range.
This despite the fact that the network has been taking initiatives like hiring new professionals such as Prashant Sanwal to build on the gains that the Alpha regional language channels have been making; and Apurva Purohit to help course correct the lead channel Zee TV.
Zee Tele has just last week announced a major deal with TV talk show veteran Shekhar Suman for two shows. Suman already anchors Nilaamghar for Zee TV, a show which packs a lot of energy and little ratings.
Expectations are high that Simply Shekhar one of the new shows that Shekhar will star in, will better the fortunes of Zee TV and bridge the gap between Sony and itself. Star Plus the leader is far ahead of both of them.
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.
