WION, Zee Business' Chief Business Officer Madhu Soman Departs
Madhu Soman, who served as the Chief Business Officer for WION and Zee Business is departing from the organisation after a tenure of about one and a half years.
Soman conveyed in a text message to a few colleagues stating, "Peepulz, my journey with WION and Zee Business is winding down this month. Not sure if I will be coming to the office on a daily basis from next week. I'm leaving a better person than when I came, and that's because of you. Thanks for everything. Wishing you all the very best. Regards, Madhu."
The Zee group appointed Soman to spearhead content and commercial strategy for WION and Zee Business. Under the editorial guidance of Anil Singhvi, Zee Business maintained its lead, but WION experienced a reported decline in both revenue and viewership. Previously, under the leadership of Sudhir Chaudhary as Group CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Zee News and WION excelled in both viewership and revenues.
With almost 25 years of experience in broadcast and digital media, Soman has been involved in various aspects, including television news, new media and the convergence of text, photos and video on the World Wide Web.
Before joining WION and Zee Business, Soman served at Bloomberg for over seven years as the Head of Broadcast Sales, Asia-Pacific. In this role, he was responsible for advancing Bloomberg's business with news broadcasters and publishers, establishing strategic partnerships and facilitating the sale of Bloomberg content. Prior to his tenure at Bloomberg, he held various editorial positions at media publications such as Thomson Reuters, ANI and Spectranet.
He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Radio and TV Journalism from IIMC and a PGDIB in International Business from Symbiosis Pune.
Following Soman's arrival at WION, Palki Sharma Upadhyay departed from the company in September 2022. The departure was significant for WION, considering her association with the organisation for five and a half years, during which she contributed to building the reputation of both WION and herself. Her exit was viewed as a setback for the WION brand.
Upadhyay’s exit was followed by the departure of Gunjan Taneja, VP and Head of Global Sales at WION, in November 2022. She went on to join India Today Group in early 2023.
WION welcomed Vikram Chandra in November 2022, known for his editorial style and presence. His association with the channel was based on a licensing arrangement between WION and his company Editorji. Nevertheless, this agreement has concluded and Chandra will no longer be hosting shows for WION.
Mona Jain's arrival at Zee News in March 2023 and the proactive measures taken by Zee News’ leadership to boost WION's revenues, some encouraging outcomes have emerged in recent months. Jain, along with Zee Media's leadership, has been actively working on expanding WION through innovative initiatives and programming.
It's noteworthy that when Soman initially joined, he also had a role in the editorial department. However, in the latter part of 2023, Rabin Sharma assumed the position of Managing Editor at WION, and Soman's editorial responsibilities were reassigned. Rabin Sharma now oversees the editorial product at WION.
In March 2023, Neha Khanna, who initially joined WION as a prime-time anchor after Upadhyay moved to News18, departed from WION and joined News9. Khanna later became the prime-time presenter at News9, while Upadhyay launched her own popular show called 'Vantage' on News18.
In 2021, MJ Akbar joined WION as an advisor in August. Also, in early 2021, Kartikeya Sharma left WION.
WION appears to have experienced a decline in that uniqueness over the last 18 months. The channel garnered praise for its exclusive content and coverage of both Indian and global issues, quickly establishing a global presence.
Hopefully, Dr Subhash Chandra’s vision for WION will be restored and WION will grow both in editorial and business terms.
The appointment of a replacement for Soman at WION and Zee Media remains uncertain. During this interim period, it is quite likely that senior leadership from the Zee Media group will oversee WION and Zee Business on the business side.
