The company operates 28 linear television channels across Hindi, English, Marathi, and Bangla, spanning general entertainment, movies, kids and sports. While SPNI has a presence in select regional markets such as Marathi and Bangla, its scale in these markets remains limited, while South India remains a major vacuum in its portfolio.
The absence of a southern footprint has weighed on the broadcaster in recent years at a time of shrinking pay-TV user base and distribution platforms gaining greater bargaining power. It has also constrained SPNI’s ability to offer advertisers pan-India reach, unlike rivals such as JioStar and Zee Entertainment, which operate across Hindi and multiple regional markets.
Sony’s proposed mega-merger with Zee didn’t materialise despite two years of sustained efforts.
In the past three decades of its presence in India, the broadcaster has explored several opportunities to enter the southern television market, including attempts to acquire ETV’s regional entertainment channels and Maa Television, though both didn’t materialise. ETV’s channels were eventually acquired by Network18, while Maa TV was bought by Star India.
In a leadership realignment announced on Friday, SPNI said Rajaraman Sundaram will lead its regional expansion in the South. Sundaram joined the company last year from Disney Star, which has since merged with Viacom18 to form JioStar.
SPNI also unveiled a new operating model aimed at repositioning itself as a content-first, platform-agnostic, and multilingual entertainment business, as it seeks closer integration of TV and digital operations.Under the revised structure, content clusters will have end-to-end responsibility for content strategy, programming, marketing, and on-air promotions across platforms.
“As we look ahead to our next phase of growth, we have reviewed our operating model and organisational structure to ensure they best support our goals,” said Gaurav Banerjee, CEO, SPNI. “We are redefining our content strategy from a largely linear-first to a linear and digital approach that delivers seamless consumer experience across platforms.”
Nachiket Pantvaidya will head Sony Entertainment Television (SET), Sony Marathi and movie production. Ajay Bhalwankar will lead Sony SAB, the movies cluster, free-to-air and infotainment channels, while Ambesh Tiwari will oversee Sony AATH along with the kids business.
Following Danish Khan’s resignation, SPNI will appoint a new head for its digital business. In the interim, Banerjee will oversee the digital vertical. Rajesh Kaul will lead a consolidated revenue function as chief revenue officer.
