News Broadcasting
CNBC-TV18 elevates Sidharth Zarabi to national news editor
MUMBAI: CNBC-TV18, India’s No.1 business channel, has announced a strengthening of its editorial leadership team with a new role being assigned to senior editor Sidharth Zarabi as National News Editor. In this new capacity, Zarabi’s mandate will be to drive reporting teams nationally apart from leading special news programming initiatives on the channel. Zarabi earlier was the Economic Policy Editor and the Delhi bureau chief for CNBC-TV18.
Speaking on this development, Anil Uniyal, CEO, CNBC-TV18 & CNBC Awaaz, said “Sidharth has played a critical role in CNBC-TV18’s leadership so far and going forward his expertise will be invaluable in terms of how CNBC-TV18 contributes as well as benefits from our integrated business newsroom”
Commenting on this, Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18 said “Siddharth is a versatile and prolific journalist with over 16 years of experience. He has brought energy and dynamism to the news room. In his new role as National News Editor, he will work closely with me to drive CNBC-TV18’s team of reporters. He will also front special news based shows for the channel
Speaking on his elevation, Sidharth Zarabi added “It’s been a momentous journey so far and my experience with CNBC-TV18 has been intense and enriching over the years. I hope to bring it to bear as we thrust ahead and further strengthen its leadership”
Zarabi has over 15 years of experience and prior to joining the group in 2008, he has had stints with the Business Standard and The Indian Express.
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.
