MUMBAI: Gaurav Banerjee does not come across as CEO nor as MD material when you meet him the first time. The bespectacled unassuming 47-year-old actually reminds you of a writer or a director or a journalist or a scholarly researcher. But today he sits atop Culver Max Entertainment as the chief executive officer & managing director, a handpicked successor to the quiet and unassuming number-crunching CEO NP Singh who built a profitable broadcast network and retired earlier this year.
Not for GB, as he is known, are all the pomp and flash that others in the business were vaunt to opt for in earlier times when pay TV was a fat man’s business oozing money like there was no tomorrow. Today, pay TV is shrinking, cord-cutting is rampant cord-nevers are growing and the coming generation will probably not know what cable TV and satellite dishes were.
GB – a history graduate from St Stephen’s College and a masters-degree holder in film making and TV production from Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi – belongs to a group of young executives like Arjun Nohwar who leads Warner Bros Discovery for India and south Asia.
These folks know they are leading legacy media companies in rapidly-changing times and they have to ensure that their charges stay relevant even in the midst of rapid churn and chaos. Their response lies in putting their heads down and focusing on the task they have been assigned: protect and build legacy business and ensure they continue to generate cash which – like in the past – continues fueling their existence and growth and money-gobbling streaming platforms.
They also have to make the right moves on the streaming side on content, tech, distribution and business models. And they have to do all this profitably, without breaking the bank. For ranging against them are big players in the media and tech ecosystem: Google, Meta, Netflix, Amazon Prime and the potent combo of JioStar – all having deep pockets and a hunger to invest big and dominate the market. Plus there are others such as Zee5 and Sun Nxt and a string of other OTT players which are being spawned by the hour.
No one in his or her right mind expected GB to be a candidate for the prized position of Culver Max Entertainment MD & CEO. For long the boyish-looking executive was known to be a close ally, actually protégé, of current JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar and every one expected him to follow him to the joint venture that was in the making. (Danish Khan would succeed NP was most media observers’ guess; we at indiantelevision.com did not speculate about this)
But GB probably knew otherwise; that it would be Kevin Vaz who would be chosen over him. Hence, when the offer to lead Sony came, he accepted it.
Of course, he was deserving. A very strong content professional (he began his career as an anchor and producer with news channel Aaj Tak and later at Star News) with an uncanny knowledge of audience preferences, he knows how to weave stories into shows that generate high viewership.
He did that very successfully both on Star Plus and Hotstar when he was president content at Disney Star India, retaining the network’s numero uno status for more than half a decade. It led others – who struggled to come even close – by a mile. To top it all he had the reputation of being a good manager and leader – earning the loyalty of his colleagues and subordinates.
LA-based chair of global television studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment president & CEO Ravi Ahuja had expressed total confidence in GB’s visionary approach at the time of his appointment. “ Gaurav’s expertise in content creation and strategic leadership will undoubtedly lead SPNI (read Culver Max) into an exciting new chapter of growth and achievement. We are thrilled to have him at the helm and look forward to the continued success of SPNI under his leadership,” he had said.
GB has been playing low key ever since he took over in end-August 2024. He has been building up his A team bit by bit. Most old-timers have been retained, though some like Neerja Vyas chose to quit.
Danish Khan who was EVP & business head Sony Entertainment Television, Studio Next and SonyLiv was recast to head -digital business, Studio Next, and networks channel licensing. Ajay Bhalwankar, who led Sony Marathi successfully, was handed over Sony Sab to manage along with his existing charge.
Nachiket Pantvaidya, general manager of Sony Pictures International Productions, was additionally made business head of Hindi general entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television, marking his third stint with the network.
Tushar Shah who led English, Bengali, and infotainment channels and was the chief marketing officer (CMO) at the network was additionally asked to oversee Sony MAX, Sony MAX HD, Sony MAX 2, Sony WAH and Sony PAL.
Manu Wadhwa who was chief human resources officer was handed additional responsibility of information technology
Ambesh Tiwari is currently being groomed to take over as kids channel Sony Yay’s business head when Leena Lele Dutta departs at the end of this fiscal year.
Ritesh Khosla was brought in as general counsel.
Veteran Rajesh Kaul, continued in his chief revenue officer, distribution and sports business head. Aditya Mehta who headed corporate strategy, business monetization, and data analytics’ centre of excellence continues in his position. Sandeep Mehrotra, continued in his position as EVP -sales.
A new CFO Sibaji Biswas is slated to join come the first week of January 2025.
The new leaders, in turn, have been building, their respective A teams.
In the meanwhile, GB has been working on getting to know Culver Max Entertainment, its processes, its people, its neurology, its innards better. He starting rerunning episodes of old shows (Beyhadh, Bade Achche Lagate Hain, among others) on Sony excepting for non-fiction shows Kaun Banega Crorepati and Indian Idol. The two were tweaked with better production quality and selection of participants. Each contestant had a dramatic back story or extremely good talent. Or even both.
Without incurring any great additional programming costs, the ratings of SET started rising.
The teams in the meanwhile strategised on what kind of programming audiences would like to see on the network. The answer was classics like CID and Tenali Rama which would be modernised, have better casting, fabulous production values and improved storytelling. The first is being produced by Banijay Asia and the second by Contiloe Films and have already starting airing on their respective channels Sony Entertainment and Sony Sab. The focus in on gauging audience reactions to these two, before launching new shows which are currently being developed with other producers. Shark Tank, which has been drawing eyeballs and attention ever since it launched three seasons ago is slated to launch on 6 January.
The second strong plank of content at Culver Max is its sports programming under the Sony Sports Network umbrella. Recently, rights to the Asian Cricket Council covering men’s, women’s, under19’s, and men’s and women’s emerging Asia cup tournaments from 2024 to 2031 were acquired. The network already has rights to cricket matches in New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka. Formule E race broadcast rights have been inked for the next three years.
For football fans, close to 1,600 matches from the 2024-2025, 2025-2026 and the 2026-27 seasons of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, UEFA super cup and UEFA Youth League havbeen be been signed up earlier this year. Ultimate Fighting Championship matches till 2028 should continue attracting its loyal audiences, even though it’s quite possible it will lose the WWE (its staple) programming to Netflix which has paid top dollar for it as part of a global acquisition deal. Rights to local Hockey India League championships for three years have also been acquired,. Sony has also been a partner to three of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments. Therefore it has enough heft to keep viewers engaged throughout 2025 with their TV and handphones, says GB.
SonyLiv is the least of GB’s worries. Led by old-timer Danish Khan and content commissioner Saugata Mukherjee, the streamer has been churning out shows which have attained cult status: The Scam, Rocket Boys, Freedom at Midnight, Gullak, Tanaav, Cubicles, Undekhi, among many others. It has loyal subscribers who know what they are going to get on the platform, and they come there to get it. Sources indicate that it has the lowest churn among all the streamers, though its subscriber base is in the 15-20 million range.
Four months into his job, and GB has begun to make his presence felt on the Indian entertainment landscape. He has just begun emerging from the shadows as a corporate leader. 2025 will see his influence spreading even further.
Media mavens had better not be surprised if he makes some sharp moves, especially acquisitive ones. For as his boss Ravi Ahuja expressed to him on his December visit to India: “Exceed expectations, take on new challenges, and build your skills and network – that’s the path to leadership!”
To his advantage, to many in the industry, he is a mystery, known more for his content savviness, not for his managerial or strategic skills.
And that is his trump card.
(We asked an AI pic generator to re-imagine Gauarav Banerjee through its tool, and the main picture on our home page is what it came up with. No malice is intended toward Culver Max, Gaurav Banerjee or anyone else asociated with personally or professionally. No copyright infringement is intended either.)
Mukesh Ambani & Manoj Modi
