'Sony Pictures is last US entertainment company with big India show'

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corp, derives about a tenth of its global revenue and profit from India, making the country one of its most important and profitable markets outside the US, a top executive said.

“We’re really the last US-based entertainment company with a big footprint in India, and that is a growing market. It’s uneven growth, but a growing market. So over time, we’ll continue to invest there,” said Ravi Ahuja, President & CEO of SPE, during a fireside chat at the BOFA - 2025 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference last week in New York.

Unlike several global rivals that have struggled to scale in India with the exception of Disney-owned Star, Sony has maintained a steady presence across television, sports and digital platforms. Its Indian arm also operates one of the world’s top-five YouTube channels, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), which Ahuja highlighted as a sign of its expanding digital footprint.


In 2024, Disney restructured its India operations by folding Star India into a joint venture with Reliance Industries-owned Viacom18. Around the same time, Paramount Global exited the market by selling its remaining 13.01% stake in Viacom18 to Reliance for Rs 4,286 crore.

Culver Max Entertainment, operating as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), posted a 19% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 839 crore in FY24. Revenue slipped 3% to Rs 6,510 crore, with advertising down 11% to Rs 2,912 crore. Subscription revenue grew 7% to Rs 3,346 crore, partly offsetting the fall.

Sony had earlier explored a merger with Zee Entertainment, but the deal did not go through. “We attempted a merger to grow, but for a lot of different reasons we didn’t end up executing that merger. So we’re still open to organic and inorganic growth there,” Ahuja said.

Had the merger succeeded, the combined entity would have been India’s second-largest media and entertainment company after the $8.5 billion JioStar.

Since then, Sony has appointed a new management team led by Gaurav Banerjee, a former Star India executive. “We’ve got a new management team who largely came from Star and they’re doing a fantastic job. Ratings are strong, it’s doing very well,” Ahuja said.

Sony’s strategy in India spans both traditional television and newer platforms. Ahuja acknowledged that the industry is still working out how to navigate the creator economy, an area Sony is studying closely.

“No media company has quite figured out how to work with the so-called creator economy, but we spend time on that, and hopefully we’ll find a path there,” he said.

SPNI currently operates 28 TV channels along with its streaming service SonyLIV.

For Ahuja, the emphasis remains on sustainable growth globally. “My top priority is growth and it’s not necessarily tripling the company overnight or anything crazy like that. It’s consistent, stable growth over time,” he said.