Khan, Vyas take up lead roles ahead of Sony-ZEE merger

Danish Khan, who is currently the business head of the flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television as well as digital business, besides the network channels licensing operations, will shift his focus to SonyLIV and StudioNEXT, Sony Pictures Networks’ content creation arm. Neeraj Vyas, who runs Sony SAB, PAL, and Sony MAX Movie Cluster, will helm Sony Entertainment Television starting 1 June.

Senior company executives, seeking anonymity, said that the announcement is likely on Monday. There are also speculations that Khan may oversee the entire OTT business of the merged entity, which includes SonyLIV and ZEE5.

Khan, with nearly 18 years at Sony across two stints, returned as business head of SET in 2015 and assumed control of SonyLIV in 2019. SonyLIV has since become one of the fastest-growing OTT services in both viewership and subscriptions.

N.P. Singh, managing director and chief executive of Sony Pictures Networks India, had touted Sony as the only media company with a profitable digital operation. Last year, it said that SonyLIV’s paid subscriber base surged from 700,000 in early 2020, to over 18 million, with 6.9 million direct subscribers and an annual average revenue per user of ₹573.

Vyas, a 27-year Sony veteran who began as a sales executive, managed the movie channel business before taking over Sony SAB in 2017. The channel, home to the popular comedy Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, has recently undergone a transformation.

“As we increase our focus on digital and prioritise our DTC (direct-to-consumer) services, I'm excited to share that Danish will lead Sony LIV's growth and oversee Studio NEXT's expansion. Moreover, Neeraj will enhance the value proposition of SPNI's Hindi General Entertainment channels, including Sony Entertainment Television (SET), to drive growth and momentum in Hindi language entertainment. I wish them the best in their endeavours," NP Singh, managing director and CEO, SPNI said in a statement.

Culver Max Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the consumer-facing entity of Sony Pictures and an indirect subsidiary of Sony Group Corp operates 26 linear TV channels in India. In 2021, Sony and ZEE agreed to merge, aiming to form one of the largest entertainment networks in the country. However, while the merger was approved by stock exchanges and the Competition Commission of India, it is yet to get a clearance from the National Company Law Tribunal.

Culver Max Entertainment will hold a 50.86% stake in the merged entity, ZEE’s promoters will own 3.99%, and ZEE’s public shareholders will have the remaining 45.15% stake.

Punit Goenka, ZEE founder Subhash Chandra’s son, will be leading the merged company as MD and CEO.

Media industry experts and analysts have said that once Zee and Sony are merged, the combined entity will take on two large broadcasting networks—Disney Star and Viacom18—for a larger share of advertising, as well as in attracting more and more content producers to work with them.

With a combined viewership of 26.7%, Zee and Sony are likely to surpass Disney Star in the broadcast segment (the current leader at 20%) and compete with Viacom18 to acquire rights to more sports properties to build its portfolio.Viacom18 currently holds the digital rights to the cricket Indian Premier League (IPL) for five years starting 2023. Along with deals with advertisers, Sony and Zee would be able to wield better bargaining power with distributors such as MSOs (multi-system operators) and DTH (direct-to-home) operators.