GECs

Sony turns 20 in India: Retrospect & Prospect

Published

11 years ago

October 11, 2015

MUMBAI: Glory, agony, poison, panacea… As Multi Screen Media (MSM) (erstwhile Sony Entertainment Television India) completes two decades in the Indian broadcast space, it has witnessed it all. The broadcasting company, which started with one channel, is now sixteen channels strong with even more additions in the pipeline.

In a rapidly changing scenario, where the entire ecosystem is moving towards the digital platform, there are challenges and opportunities alike. And MSM CEO NP Singh is ready to take them all head on.

A Sony veteran, Singh has been privy to the business affairs of the company for as many as sixteen years since first joining the organisation in 1999 as chief financial officer (CFO).

Even as word trickled in about MSM’s collaboration with US-based mega sportscaster ESPN Inc, came the news that the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) title sponsor PepsiCo was withdrawing as it brought ‘disrepute’ to the game. In the midst of some good news and bad, Singh’s core focus at this stage is on the network’s holistic growth.

“My focus is on aggressive growth of the network and consolidation of our existing channels. Along with this, foraying in new areas of businesses, expanding our portfolio and exploring opportunities on the rapidly growing digital platform is what we are looking at. At the same time, course correction of our flagship channel Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is a priority,” Singh says.

To that effect, MSM has made a series of changes in its management team and these are likely to reflect in the programming and content soon enough.

RETROSPECT: PIONEER OF NEW IDEAS

In its two decades of operations in India, Sony has been a pioneer of new ideas that set benchmarks in the Indian broadcast space.

“MSM as a network has pioneered a lot of new ideas, for the industry to follow. The first ever big scale live event was done by us; namely, LataMangeshkar’s live concert. Infact, we’ve had the privilege of hosting both Lataji and Ashaji in live shows.” Singh reminisces.

“In earlier days, MSM also created ripples by airing blockbuster Hindi movies on TV. It started with the airing of the evergreen movie Sholay and was followed by Border. The ratings those days were somewhere close to 30,” he informs.

While today MSM’s flagship channel SET might have lost its yesteryears’ glory, the fact remains that it aired the first ever daily soap in Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka, “The show reached a thousand episodes those days during 1998 – 2000 and used to do well against Kaun Banega Crorepati (on Star Plus),” says Singh. hose days were somewhere close to 30,” he informs. says Singh.

From CID, which recently completed a run of 19 years on Sony, to the maiden season of the interactive reality show Indian Idol, the finale of which witnessed a total of five crore votes, there have been landmarks galore for MSM. From India’s first homegrown reality show – Boogie Woogie to the now very popular reality show format – Bigg Boss, which was initially brought to India by Sony, the network has been trailblazer of sorts.

In March 2005, Sri Adhikari Brothers’ Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) SAB TV was acquired by MSM and one of the country’s most popular scripted comedy show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah has been running on the channel for almost eight years now.

In a bid to bring the glitz and glamor of the film industry on television, Sony was also a first mover in televising the Filmfare Awards.

“We were the first ever network to bring sports on a Hindi movie channel – Max in 1999. It continues to be the leader even as today there are many others who do the same. The first ever wrap around show (Extraa Innings) for cricket was done by us during the Colombo Champions Trophy. Extraa Innings is now over 12 years old, and is the highest rated wrap around show for any sport on any channel,” informs Singh.

The rationale behind telecasting cricket on a movie channel was to rope in the women audiences for the game. “In 2003, on the back of Extraa Innings, the female viewership grew by 31 per cent,” he adds.

The retrospective is indeed dotted with many a milestones.

PROSPECTS: GEC ROAD MAP, DIGITAL, SPORTS

“Sony Pal to have original content, ‘KBC’ back in 2016”

The Hindi GEC space has always been one of MSM’s biggest focus area. However, in recent times, the network’s performance in the category has been disappointing to say the least. Now with a new team in place, it might just be a matter of time before MSM’s flagship channel SET takes off again.

“Our flagship channel continues to be my number one priority in addition to growing the network. With that in mind, we have put a new management team in place. Danish Khan has joined as SET business head and has a new team under him catering to content, communication, promotions, research strategy and marketing. I am very confident that in the upcoming months, the new programmes to be launched on SET will increase the viewership on the channel, significantly although with a strong male audience base, Sony is already uniquely positioned at this stage.” says Singh

The centre of the network’s strategy right now is to create new content to lure viewers back to the channel. “We are focusing on gaining both qualitative and quantitative consumer insights so that we can feed those back into the system and create content that not only resonates with the consumer but also reflects his/her cultural ethos”, he says.

Additionally, Sony will also bring back the next season of KBC, with its superlative host Amitabh Bachchan next year.

MSM’s third Hindi GEC, Sony Pal, which was launched as a female-centric channel did not take off as was expected. However, where original shows failed, old shows did the turnaround for the channel. The channel, which currently has archival content from Sony’s library as well as airs South Indian movies, may get back original shows in the future.

“In a few months’ time if we see viewership increasing further, which we are seeing right now, then we will start bringing original content again on Pal. I have a blue print of what I want to do over the next six months,” he says.

DIGITAL

MSM has also been aggressively moving on the digital front with its over-the-top (OTT) platform Sony Liv.

“We are exploring opportunities on the digital platform as it is growing rapidly and we want to be a major part of the action. We’ve taken baby steps towards it by launching Sony Liv. In the last one year, we have upped the ante. Recently we launched our first original series Love Bytes, which already got 1.5 million video views. This resulted in a 300 per cent growth in our video consumption on the digital platform,” says Singh emphasising on digital.

Sony Liv’s growth strategy will be two-pronged. While the platform will develop new original shows for the digital platform, it will also aggregate a lot of third party content. “One of the key aspect of the collaboration with ESPN is to co-create a multi sport app where we will use the expertise of ESPN-Cricinfo,” informs Singh.

Even as the digital medium is witnessing immense growth in India, players are yet to figure out a concrete revenue model. While a few of them are providing content for free, others have opted for a pay model. “There’s a classical debate going on across the globe about which models is better. As I see it, currently, we have all our content on AVOD (advertising supported video on demand). But we will start putting up some of our marquee content in SVOD (subscription supported video on demand). Again, we were the first ones to put content on the SVOD platform. FIFA 2014 was one of our subscription based products available on Liv Sports,” Singh says.

“We believe that any marquee content should be primarily subscription led, and then eventually free. However, at this stage, a lot of models are being experimented with.

With MSM poised for the next phase of growth and expansion with multiple strategies across its businesses, the network’s road ahead will be watched with keen interest.

SPORTS

MSM has an extensive sports bouquet at this stage and the primary of them is IPL, which now is making headlines as PepsiCo expressed its desire to opt out of the sponsorship deal.

“Any sponsor opting out from IPL won’t affect MSM,” Singh tells Indiantelevision.com. “We have seen a change of sponsors before too but the tournament continued and kept growing,” he adds.

“MSM has made aggressive acquisitions of football properties this year and plans to create a lot of wrap around and editorial programming for it. And now, our collaboration with ESPN has given us an opportunity of presenting international level editorial content.

With MSM poised for the next phase of growth and expansion with multiple strategies across its businesses, the network’s road ahead will be watched with keen interest.

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GECs

Sun TV posts steady revenue, profit dips amid rising costs

Published

4 months ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CHENNAI: It appears there is still plenty of Sun to go around in the Indian broadcasting landscape, even if a few clouds have drifted across the financial horizon. Sun TV Network Limited, the Chennai-based behemoth that dominates airwaves across seven languages, has tuned into a steady frequency for the quarter ending 31 December 2025. While the numbers show a resilient revenue stream, the company’s latest broadcast reveals a few static-filled spots in its profit margins.

For the quarter in question, Sun TV’s total income climbed by approximately 3.31 per cent, reaching Rs 958.39 crores compared to Rs 927.66 crores in the same period last year. Revenue from operations also saw a healthy bump, rising 4.32 per cent to Rs 827.87 crores.

The real star of the show, however, was domestic subscription revenue, which surged by 8.86 per cent to Rs 472.99 crores. This growth highlights the enduring appetite for Sun’s diverse content, which spans everything from daily soaps in Tamil and Telugu to its burgeoning OTT platform, Sun NXT.

Despite the revenue growth, the picture quality of the profits was slightly blurred by rising costs. Eitda for the quarter stood at Rs 409.79 crores, a dip from the Rs 432.14 crores recorded in the corresponding 2024 quarter.

The profit after tax followed a similar downward trend, settling at Rs 316.44 crores against the previous year’s Rs 347.17 crores. Advertisers also seemed to have switched channels slightly, with advertisement revenues sliding to Rs 291.94 crores from Rs 332.17 crores.

Sun TV isn’t just playing on home turf; its sporting ambitions are becoming increasingly global. The network now owns three major cricket franchises: SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL, SunRisers Eastern Cape in SA20, and SunRisers Leeds Limited in The Hundred (UK).

The foray into British cricket saw the company acquire a 100 per cent stake in Northern Superchargers Limited (now SunRisers Leeds) for approximately £100 million. While these franchises brought in Rs 14.61 crores this quarter, they also incurred corresponding costs of Rs 19.89 crores. Over the nine-month period, however, the cricket business is a major player, contributing Rs 487.64 crores in income.

The company’s bottom line took a minor hit from exceptional items, including a Rs 4.23 crore charge related to India’s new Labour Codes, which consolidated 29 existing labour laws. Additionally, the consolidated results reflect the amalgamation of Kal Radio Limited with Udaya FM, a move that became effective in May 2025 and required a restatement of previous figures.

To keep investors from reaching for the remote, the Board has declared an interim dividend of 50 per cent, that’s Rs 2.50 per equity share. This comes on top of earlier dividends of 100 per cent (Rs 5.00) and 75 per cent (Rs 3.75) declared in August and November 2025, respectively.

With a massive cash reserve and a dominant position in the South Indian market, Sun TV continues to shine, even if the current quarter required a bit of fine-tuning. For now, shareholders can sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

GECs

SPNI hires Pradeep M with responsibility for standards and practices in the south

Published

4 months ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India has hired Pradeep M to handle standards and practices for its southern market, bolstering its compliance bench as content rules tighten across platforms.

Pradeep, who has nearly 13 years in the entertainment media industry, takes on responsibility for content standards in a region that is both linguistically diverse and regulatorily sensitive. His brief spans television, OTT, sports and digital platforms.

He specialises in content review and compliance across shows, commercials, on-air promotions and international feeds, ensuring alignment with broadcast, OTT and advertising codes. He has also handled brand approvals and sponsorship integrations for heavily regulated categories—including online gaming, cryptocurrency, NFTs and lottery brands—offering guidance shaped by fast-evolving rules.

Before Sony, Pradeep worked at Jiostar as assistant manager for content regulation from November 2024 to January 2026. Earlier, he spent nearly seven years at Viacom18 Media, rising from senior executive to assistant manager in content regulation between 2018 and 2024. There he served as a key compliance touchpoint for the network.

His career began on the creative side. Between 2013 and 2018, he worked as executive producer on feature films and television shows, gaining hands-on exposure to production. He also had a stint as a non-fiction show director at Star TV Network in 2017. That mix of creative and regulatory experience gives him a dual lens—how content is made and how it must be managed.

As regulators, platforms and advertisers all tighten the screws, broadcasters are investing more in gatekeepers who can keep creativity within the lines. Sony’s latest hire shows where the industry is heading: in the streaming age, compliance is content’s quiet co-star.

GECs

Colors Gujarati rolls out two new shows from 2nd February

Published

4 months ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Colors Gujarati has unveiled two new prime-time shows as part of its push to strengthen culturally rooted storytelling for regional audiences. The channel will premiere the devotional saga Gangasati–Paanbai at 7.30 pm, followed by the romantic family drama Manmelo at 9.30 pm from February 2.

Inspired by Gujarat’s spiritual and literary heritage, Gangasati–Paanbai: Shyam Dhun No Navo Adhyay draws from the timeless bhajans and poetry of saint-poetesses Gangasati and Paanbai, weaving devotion and human values into a contemporary narrative aimed at younger viewers.

In contrast, Manmelo explores love and responsibility across social divides, tracing the lives of three middle-class sisters whose relationships with three affluent brothers reshape their futures. The show delves into ambition, emotional conflict and the realities of married life, offering a layered family drama.

A Colors Gujarati spokesperson said the new launches reflect the channel’s commitment to authentic Gujarati entertainment that blends cultural values with modern storytelling.