EXCLUSIVE: Sony launches internal audit to cut redundancies, optimize costs amid industry pressures
The consultancy’s scope includes both linear TV and SonyLIV, SPNI’s flagship OTT platform, with a focus on aligning content investments with revenue realities.
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Culver Max Entertainment, which runs the consumer-facing brand Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), has engaged global consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to conduct a sweeping internal audit of its operations. The mandate, initiated under the stewardship of SPNI’s new CEO and MD Gaurav Banerjee, is aimed at streamlining costs and improving efficiency across television and digital businesses.
Banerjee, who took charge in 2024 after the exit of long-serving chief NP Singh, is driving the strategic review at a time when the broadcast sector faces steep challenges — soaring content acquisition costs, mounting competition from digital-first rivals, regulatory price interventions, and a volatile advertising market.
According to industry sources, the audit is designed to root out redundancies, rationalize content-related expenditure, and highlight inefficiencies in programming, marketing, rights acquisitions, and support functions. “BCG has been mandated to take a hard look at Sony’s cost structures and provide a roadmap for sharper efficiency,” a senior executive said.
The consultancy’s scope includes both linear TV and SonyLIV, SPNI’s flagship OTT platform, with a focus on aligning content investments with revenue realities. The exercise also seeks to plug structural gaps and streamline overlapping processes without disrupting the broadcaster’s core operations. SPNI, however, has declined to comment on the ongoing audit process.
Analysts say Banerjee’s decision to bring in BCG signals a sharper emphasis on financial discipline and operational agility ahead of an intensely competitive growth phase.
Industry analysts note that with content costs skyrocketing and advertising revenues proving unpredictable, broadcasters are being forced to reassess their strategies. “Broadcasters today cannot afford inefficiencies,” said a media analyst. “Banerjee’s decision to bring in BCG reflects a recognition that scale alone will not guarantee profitability — efficiency will.”
“Broadcasters and OTT platforms are under pressure to do more with less,” an industry analyst observed. “Banerjee’s move to deploy BCG shows that SPNI is not only bracing for market realities but also trying to future-proof itself.”
“Banerjee is signaling that the era of unchecked spending is over,” said an industry veteran. “This audit is about building a leaner, sharper SPNI that can not only weather current pressures but also thrive in the next phase of media growth.”
SPNI, which operates 28 TV channels and SonyLIV, reported revenue of ₹6,511 crore and net profit of ₹840 crore in FY24. Subscription income stood at ₹3,206 crore, while advertising contributed ₹2,825 crore. With content costs climbing faster than revenue growth, the audit is expected to recalibrate SPNI’s business model for greater sustainability.
The BCG audit, insiders note, is as much about perception as it is about operations. For employees, partners, and investors, it sends a message that Banerjee intends to bring a sharper financial lens to SPNI’s growth story. For rivals, it underscores that SPNI will compete aggressively but without slipping into unsustainable spending wars.
