Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd, also known as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), is looking to lay off more than 100 employees and reorganize senior management to address financial challenges. The restructuring will primarily impact SonyLIV’s post-production teams, which the company aims to outsource, with additional job cuts expected in marketing, advertising sales, and Broadcast Operations and Network Engineering (BONE). SPNI’s net profit dropped significantly to Rs 456 crore in FY25 from Rs 843 crore the previous year, while revenue decreased by approximately 4.4 percent.
Industry analysts attribute this decline to a drop in traditional television viewership, with digital revenues unable to fully compensate for losses in the TV sector. The company plans to assign senior executives new responsibilities to implement a revised organizational structure by the end of the month. Since Gaurav Banerjee assumed the role of CEO in August 2024, this upcoming organizational restructuring and staff reductions mark the first major strategic shift.
Over the past two years, SPNI has witnessed the departure of several senior figures, including former Sony Entertainment Television (SET) head Neeraj Vyas, TV ad sales head Sandeep Mehrotra, and most recently, SonyLIV head Danish Khan. In response to profitability challenges, competitors like JioCinema and Zee Entertainment have also downsized their workforces in recent times. A recent report projects India’s entertainment and media industry to grow from $32.2 billion in 2024 to $47.2 billion by 2029, driven by increased digital engagement, a sizable youth demographic, improved broadband accessibility, and enhanced online content consumption, as per PwC India.
