People
CNN International commercial makes senior level appointment
MUMBAI: Sunita Rajan is joining CNN International Commercial’s executive team under Chief Commercial Officer Rani R Raad with a remit to continue building CNN’s business growth trajectory in the Asia Pacific region.
Joining from BBC Worldwide from March 2015, Rajan will oversee an extensive client base across the breadth of the Asia Pacific region and will lead teams based across 5 offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Delhi and Mumbai and a network of representatives across Asia, overseeing the strategy to drive advertising revenue for CNN’s global portfolio of multi-platform products among Asia Pacific based advertisers. She will also be part of Raad’s management team which guides the brand’s international commercial strategy.
With an emphasis on bespoke integrated advertiser solutions across the full range of CNN’s linear and non-linear properties, her focus will be on overseeing strategic relationships and brand partnerships across the Asia Pacific region. Her appointment comes at a time of particular momentum for the CNN brand: the leading international news brand continues to mark clear distance between its nearest competitor in all key independent viewing surveys both in Asia and worldwide and marks the second consecutive year as Asian TV Awards’ Cable & Satellite Channel of the Year and the Royal Television Society’s News Channel of the Year.
“Sunita’s wealth of experience coupled with her dynamic leadership style will be a huge asset to CNN as we look to continue our growth path in the Asia Pacific region,” said Raad. “Her expertise fits perfectly with CNN’s multi-platform offering and she is ideally equipped to take CNN’s long-standing commercial success in the region to the next level. She will undoubtedly prove a valued colleague to the entire Asia business across the full spectrum of our commercial activity in the region where CNN continues to enjoy a strong leadership position.”
“This is a tremendous opportunity to build further growth for the global news leader across its extensive portfolio of tv and digital products in a region as exciting and dynamic as Asia Pacific,” said Rajan. “I’m looking forward to taking up this new role working with such a highly talented team.”
Rajan will be supported in her new role by Sonali Chatterjee, Stacey Rabsatt, Atsushi Saito and Sally Young, directors respectively for South Asia, South East Asia, Japan and North Asia (including New Zealand & Australia.)
Rajan’s media career has spanned 25 years and has included roles at Star Television, News Television (India) and BBC Worldwide, where she was most recently Executive Vice President Advertising Sales, Asia Pacific.
Rajan joins CNN as the news provider continues to invest in all its platforms, including a recently re-launched CNN.com site and a suite of additional business programming for its international audiences. Its ongoing leadership position in digital, social, and mobile news and information sits alongside the unrivalled TV offering which currently reaches over 385 million households around the world.
“In welcoming her to my international executive team, I know Sunita will help shape our future success beyond her role as a senior ambassador for the business in Asia Pacific,” added Raad. “Her drive and expertise will help to further establish CNNI Commercial as the go-to home of innovative commercial propositions for those wanting to engage with our unique global audience across multiple platforms.”
Rajan is another senior level appointment to Raad’s executive management team since CNNI Commercial was formed two years ago. In February 2013, parent company Turner International made the decision to align all of CNN’s international commercial activity – spanning advertising sales, content sales, affiliate relations, out of home distribution, business development, marketing and research – into a single operation under Raad’s leadership.
CNNI Commercial currently oversees a global portfolio of world-class advertisers after a significant period of client retention and growth. It manages a dynamic content sales, affiliates and hotels business and has recently announced innovative new marketing initiatives to increase CNN’s reach to new audiences, including most recently the opening of the inaugural CNN Traveller Café in Abu Dhabi.
People
Senior exec Madhu Soman reflects on stepping away from Indian TV news
Sometimes the toughest story in a newsroom is the one about the newsroom itself.
MUMBAI: For Madhu Soman, a media executive whose career spans more than two decades at global news organisations including Reuters and Bloomberg, the decision to step away from India’s television news industry followed conversations with several leading networks.
Soman returned to India in 2022 to take up a senior leadership role in television news.
He transitioned to the business side of the industry in 2014, joining Bloomberg in Hong Kong to lead broadcast sales, news syndication and strategic partnerships across Asia-Pacific. He held the role for nearly eight years before returning to India.
“WION and Zee Business were the reason I chose to return to India after long years with Reuters and Bloomberg, transitioning from telling stories to selling them,” Soman said.
“The landing strip back home was always narrow, but it was one I was happy to take.”
The stint at Zee Media Corporation Ltd., however, proved shorter than expected.
“It didn’t take very long to realise that my runway within Zee (Media) was going to be rather short,” Soman said.
“Let’s just say I was a cultural misfit.”
Even so, he says the experience had its rewards, including exceptional colleagues and a few good friends.
After stepping away from the organisation, Soman was in discussions about potential roles.
“I spent the better part of the last two years in conversations with a few leading networks, long enough to realise the difference between being unemployed and being unemployable.”
Some of the feedback, he says, was unusually candid.
“Two of them informally told me I’m perhaps one of the best media executives in the television news business. But someone like me fronting a television news network would be considered a business risk,” Soman said in conversation with IndianTelevision.com.
For Soman, the implication was clear.
“A news network fronted by someone whose instincts were formed in journalism rooted in independence, accuracy and editorial distance from power was unlikely to find much favour with the powers that be.”
Beyond the personal dimension of his decision, Soman says the experience reflects broader pressures shaping the news industry today.
“Journalism’s job is simple: ask hard questions and hold power accountable. Keep it honest,” he said.
Quoting former Washington Post editor Marty Baron, he added: “We’re not at war with the government. We’re at work.”
“That principle applies to anyone in a position of influence, whether in government, business, sport or entertainment.”
At the same time, he says the industry faces growing pressures.
“Authoritarian regimes that resist scrutiny, along with rapid technological change including AI, are reshaping and often undermining journalism’s traditional business model.”
“There’s also a growing credibility deficit, as the race for eyeballs rewards whoever delivers the news first rather than whoever confirms it best.”
Having worked on both the editorial and commercial sides of the industry, Soman says he is acutely aware of the economic realities media organisations face.
“Running a media organisation today means being a pragmatic P&L owner. The challenge is to keep investing in strong journalism while making the economics work at a time when a growing share of the industry’s revenue is increasingly being captured by technology platforms.”
“If we drop the ball on accuracy and trust, we do a grave disservice to the democracy we’re meant to serve.”
His experience straddling both content and commerce has shaped his view of how the industry must evolve.
“Good journalism and good business strategy are not opposites,” he said.
“The best media businesses are built when editorial integrity, audience trust and sustainable economics reinforce each other.”
“And ultimately, none of it works without strong teams. Leadership in media is as much about building people and institutions as it is about building products.”
Soman is now preparing to return to his hometown of Trivandrum, barely four years after returning to India.
“Delhi NCR has a way of testing your patience, your stamina and occasionally your sanity,” he says. “But it also leaves you with stories that will last a lifetime.”
“So as I pack up and head home to Trivandrum, I do so with no complaints and no regrets.”
“I didn’t sell my soul. Some things, after all, aren’t for sale.”
Soman’s reflections underscore the tensions between editorial independence, commercial realities and political pressures shaping television news today. His experience offers a window into the challenges facing media leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry. For him, the decision marks a moment to step back after decades spent across global newsrooms and media businesses.
