Sony Pictures Networks India to trim workforce over cost cutting measures: Report

Mumbai: Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd, widely known as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), is reportedly planning to lay off over 100 employees and reshuffle senior management as part of a cost‑cutting exercise amid profitability challenges.

The cuts will largely affect SonyLIV’s post‑production teams, which the company intends to outsource, with additional job losses expected in marketing, advertising sales and Broadcast Operations and Network Engineering (BONE), according to multiple reports.

The move follows a challenging financial year with SPNI’s net profit almost halving to Rs 456 crore in FY25 from Rs 843 crore a year earlier, while revenue fell about 4.4 per cent.

Analysts attributed the decline to traditional television viewership declines with digital revenues not being able to fully offset losses from the TV segment.

The reports said that the company has planned to assign senior executives additional responsibilities for implementing a new organisational structure by the end of the month.

Since Gaurav Banerjee took over as CEO of the company in August 2024, the upcoming organisational shuffle and layoffs are the first major strategic realignment.

The company has seen several senior exits over the past two years, including former Sony Entertainment Television (SET) head Neeraj Vyas, TV ad sales head Sandeep Mehrotra, and most recently, SonyLIV head Danish Khan.

The company’s competitors JioCinema and Zee Entertainment have also, in recent years, trimmed workforces amid profitability pressures.

A latest report said that India’s entertainment and media industry will grow from $32.2 billion in 2024 to $47.2 billion by 2029 at a 7.8 per cent compound annual growth rate, nearly twice the global average of 4.2 per cent.

The growth will be driven by rising digital participation, a large youth population, expanding broadband access and deeper online content consumption, the report from PwC India said.

IANS