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Tag: Tony Vinciquerra

  • Ravi Ahuja to replace Tony Vinciquerra as president & CEO at Sony Pictures Entertainment

    Ravi Ahuja to replace Tony Vinciquerra as president & CEO at Sony Pictures Entertainment

    MUMBAI: Now here is another executive of Indian descent taking on the top leadership position in a global company. Ravi Ahuja, who was Sony Pictures Entertainment’s (SPE’s) chairman of global television studios and SPE president & COO will take over as the company’s president & CEO effective 2 January 2025. He will replace SPE’s current CEO  Tony Vinciquerra who will remain in an advisory role for SPE as non-executive chairman until the end of December 2025.

    Ahuja will report to Sony group chairman &  CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and Sony group  president, COO &  CFO Hiroki Totoki. The announcement was made Sony Group Corp and  SPE today.

    “The extraordinary turnaround at SPE over the last 10 years would not have been possible without Tony’s deep experience and expertise in the entertainment space, his strategic vision and his outstanding leadership,” said Yoshida. “Under Tony’s watch, SPE became a critically important part of our efforts to maximize the value of our IP and find synergies across all our entertainment and technology businesses, and it remains a key driver in Sony group’s ongoing corporate strategies to lean further into the creative and entertainment spaces. I want to thank Tony for his years of dedication and leadership at SPE, and for his invaluable support across the group companies during his successful career at Sony.”

    Yoshida continued, “Since joining SPE in 2021, Ravi has been at the center of Tony’s leadership team, navigating the unprecedented challenges of today’s media and entertainment environment and positioning SPE for further growth. Ravi brings with him years of experience from his time at some of the world’s most successful entertainment companies, and we look forward to working more closely with him in his new role as president & CEO of SPE.”

    Vinciquerra joined SPE in June 2017, and has led the company’s dramatic turnaround with five consecutive years of increasing profit by strengthening of SPE’s film slate, reimagining SPE’s television businesses, and with aggressive M&A in key growth areas, such as anime with the acquisition of Crunchyroll in 2021.

    Vinciquerra’s strategic decisions to divest most of SPE’s international cable networks as that market began to deteriorate, and to not jump into the overcrowded streaming space with a general entertainment streaming service, has kept SPE profitable during a time of unprecedented industry change.

    In recent years, Vinciquerra led SPE through some of the entertainment industry’s most challenging events such as the COVID-19 epidemic and the historic combined SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes of 2023, events which brought television and film production to a standstill. Despite these unprecedented events, SPE remains in a
    very strong and competitive position among its industry peers.

    “When I stepped into this role seven and a half years ago, I would’ve never imagined the extraordinary industry disruption and opportunity we’d face,” said Vinciquerra. “I’m filled with immense gratitude for this exceptional company and its profound legacy in Hollywood history. I’m consistently inspired by my brilliant and resolute colleagues. Together, against the odds, we achieved remarkable success and have consistently proven that this is a community built on passion and resilience. Thank you for making these past seven and half years the most gratifying of my career. My sincere appreciation goes to Kazuo Hirai for offering me this opportunity in 2017, and to Kenichiro Yoshida and Hiroki Totoki for their leadership and unwavering trust and support over the years. I have the utmost confidence that SPE will continue to thrive in the years ahead and know that Ravi is the right leader to take SPE forward.”

    Ravi Ahuja joined SPE in 2021 to oversee all production businesses for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and the studio’s India business as chairman of global television studios. SPT and its production companies produce several award-winning and acclaimed television series including The Crown, The Boys, Gen V, Cobra Kai, Better Call Saul, The Last of Us, Outlander, For All Mankind, The Night Agent, Twisted Metal, The Wheel of Time, S.W.A.T., The Good Doctor, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Shark Tank, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, 90 Day Fiancé, Octonauts, SuperKitties, and many more.

    Since joining SPE, Ahuja has also overseen SPE’s M&A activities, including the acquisitions of award-winning nonfiction entertainment company Industrial Media, leading UK production company Bad Wolf and VFX company, Pixomondo, as well as the sale of GSN Games to Scopely. 

    Prior to joining SPE, Ahuja was president of business Operations &  CFO of Walt Disney Television. Prior to that he was in positions of increasing authority, including CFO, at the Fox Networks group, and Virgin Entertainment group.

    “It is my privilege and honor to take the helm at SPE,” said Ahuja. “This is a special place — an iconic studio with an extraordinary 100-year history of storytelling. Thanks to Tony’s remarkable leadership, we have leading businesses with clear strategies and are set up for even greater success in the years to come. I am energized by the opportunities ahead and am lucky to work alongside thousands of talented colleagues around the world at SPE and at our Sony sister companies. I am grateful for Tony’s mentorship, guidance and friendship through the decades, and I thank Yoshida-san and Totoki-san for entrusting me with this important role.”

    Ahuja’s ascendancy to the top role at SPE comes at a time when there has been a change in leadership at Sony Pictures Networks India with NP Singh stepping down as CEO after a long successful stint and Star India executive Gaurav Banerjee taking up the role.

     

  • Crunchyroll to launch on Amazon channels in India

    Crunchyroll to launch on Amazon channels in India

    MUMBAI: Anime lovers in India are in for a treat. Crunchyroll, the anime OTT from Sony Pictures is being readied for a launch on Amazon channels in India and in many countries in south east Asia.

    Speaking at an investor analyst call on 30 June, Sony Pictures chairman & CEO Tony Vinciquerra announced that the rollout of Crunchyroll on Amazon is going to happen in a couple of months. 

    “We have more that 13 million subscribers,” he said. “Crunchyroll is going to be our prime driver for us. We have not really pushed the service in Asia. We are now building up the inventory for our launch. The Amazon channels deal has done very well for us in the US and we are confident it will do as well in south east Asia and India as well.”

    AnimeTimes, another service, from Japanese firm Avex Pictures is already available on Amazon channels in India. 

  • Sony Pictures’ Tony Vinciquerra’s perspective on the Zee merger

    Sony Pictures’ Tony Vinciquerra’s perspective on the Zee merger

    MUMBAI: Why did the deal between Zee and Sony Pictures fall through? 

    Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman & CEO CEO Tony Vinciquerra gave some insights on 30 May at a business segment call with investment analysts. 

    Said he: “The Zee situation (the merger deal) would have been very great. It took a very long time to get regulatory approval and in that time, unfortunately, the Zee business deteriorated substantially.”

    Vinciquerra, explained that Sony Pictures has several conversations going on in India  that “could, might, possibly” end up in something that would help  the company in the market place. 

    He added: “But we are not concerned about our survival there. We have a very good busines there. We will survive. We will do well. We have a very large competitor there who is merging with another of our very large competitors. We are not sure how the regulatory process will go over there, but it will probably take some time. Which would give us some time to re-establish and re-energise our business to compete very strongly. But we are looking some other options which may or may not come to fore.”

    Vinciquerra also put paid to reports that the company had settled upon Disney Star’s Gaurav Banerjee to replace India CEO NP Singh who had announced he was retiring. 

    “We are aggressively looking…we have a long list of very good candidates we can choose from,” he elaborated.  

  • Ukraine crisis: Disney and Sony suspend operations in Russia

    Ukraine crisis: Disney and Sony suspend operations in Russia

    Mumbai: Media companies Disney and Sony Pictures Entertainment have decided to suspend all business operations in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Disney will cease all business including content and product licensing, Disney Cruise Line activities, National Geographic magazine and tours, local content productions, and linear channels, according to a report by Reuters.

    Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra shot an email to his staff that the boycott of Russia includes stopping its anime streaming service Crunchyroll as well as home entertainment releases and future TV distribution deals in the country, as per a report by ANI.

    Two weeks ago, Sony had also pulled its planned future films in Russia, including the high-profile Marvel film – “Morbius.” Disney has also halted the release of theatrical films in the country. 

    Other Hollywood studios such as Warner Bros has also stopped business operations following the actions of Russia.

  • Mike Hopkins departs Sony Pictures; joins Amazon as head video entertainment

    Mike Hopkins departs Sony Pictures; joins Amazon as head video entertainment

    MUMBAI: Jeff Bezos has scored a coup of sorts. The Amazon chairman & CEO has signed up Sony Pictures Television (SPT) chairman Mike Hopkins as leader of the video entertainment business – including Prime Video and Amazon Studios – reporting directly to him. Hopkins who joined SPT- with oversight of its TV production, distribution and marketing operations globally for the studio –  in November 2017 after serving as CEO of Hulu will be leaving the Japanese company on 24 February 2020.

    The anouncement was made by Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) chairman & CEO Tony Vinciquerra in an internal note to staff.  Said Vinciquerra in the memo: “I want to thank Mike for his outstanding leadership since arriving at the studio in late 2017. From day one he was charged with rethinking the way we run our television businesses. Under his watch, SPT has been transformed into a stronger and more nimble organization, able to pivot and change course quickly in today’s rapidly evolving entertainment landscape. As part of our ‘Reimagine’ efforts, SPT has undergone essential structural change and realignment—such as combining our networks operations with distribution/home entertainment into a new territory management model and refocusing our network portfolio. Additionally, SPT has made several significant deals on the M&A front and forged new relationships with top creators and talent. These were not small tasks and would not have been possible without the outstanding work of SPT’s excellent divisional leadership and their teams, who will continue to drive our business forward.”

    During his stint at SPT, Hopkins negotiated with AT&T and helped Sony acquire 42 per cent of GSN, it did not already own. SPT also sold a majority stake in streaming service Crackle to Chicken Soup for the Soul under his watch.

    At the commerce giant, current Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke will report to Hopkins. Salke is expected to drive the creative at the studio while the bespectacled Hopkins is expected to drive distribution and biz dev. The current boss of Amazon’s streaming platform senior vice president of business development &  digital entertainment Jeff Blackburn – to whom Salke has so far been reporting – is on a sabbatical. Worldwide Amazon Video vice-president Greg Hart will also report to Hopkins.

    Blackburn too sent an internal note to Amazon staff in which he said: “Mike comes to us with over 20 years of industry experience at Fox, Hulu and Sony. He has an extensive track record as a global business leader in media, film and TV — negotiating landmark content and distribution agreements, running marketing operations, leading product/tech teams, and overseeing production of breakthrough television content. I have had the pleasure of working closely with many of you as we’ve built these video businesses from the ground up. You’ve created a global streaming service and award-winning original content that our customers love. And I know you’re only getting started. I’m so excited for Mike to join Jen and Greg [Hart], and the broader video leadership team, and build upon the global momentum we’ve experienced in 2019.”

    Sony’s Vinciquerra also announced that a realignment of the leadership structure is underway at SPT following Mike’s decision.  More responsibility will come president of worldwide distribution Keith LeGoy’s way and he will now oversee Funimation and the networks operations, programming and strategy group. Jeff Frost, president of US production, will now oversee first-run television, Embassy Row and the new game-show development team run by Mike Richards. LeGoy and Frost will report directly to Vinciquerra. As will the profitable India operations headed by CEO NP Singh.

    How this will impact Sony Pictures Networks’ India’s continuing conversations with Reliance Industries to acquire its entertainment TV business under TV18 is not clear at the time of writing. With Singh directly reporting to Vinciquerra the due dilligence process which is on currently by Sony in India could speed up or take time.

  • Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins hops to Sony Pictures

    Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins hops to Sony Pictures

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra has recruited former lieutenant, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins, to fill the top job that had been vacant since the departure of Sony Pictures TV chairman Steve Mosko seventeen months ago.

    At Hulu, Hopkins will be succeeded by Randy Freer, president and COO of Fox Networks Group and current Hulu board member.

    Hopkins has been named chairman, Sony Pictures Network, overseeing all television production, distribution and marketing operations globally for the studio, as well as SPE’s media networks business. He will start in late November and report to Vinciquerra.

    Hopkins had been president of distribution for Fox Networks Group under FNG chairman and CEO Vinciquerra until Vinciquerra’s 2011 exit from Fox. Hopkins was named CEO of Hulu in 2013 amid turmoil at the streaming service, co-owned by 21st Century Fox, Disney, NBCUniversal and Time Warner, which at the time had been run by an interim CEO while its owners were exploring a sale. Over the past four years, Hopkins has built up the company, which doubled revenue and tripled its market valuation and recently made Emmy history with 10 statuettes, becoming the first streaming service to land a Best Series Emmy for breakout drama The Handmaid’s Tale.

    Vinciquerra said, “Mike is a proven and innovative leader who has played a key role in redefining today’s television landscape, both for consumers and for how content producers reach them.”

    Hopkins’ appointment will streamline Sony’s reporting structure on the TV side. Following Mosko’s departure, all of his key reports — presidents of programming and production Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, president of worldwide networks Andy Kaplan, president of distribution Keith Le Goy, and president of ad sales & research Amy Carney — began reporting directly to Vinciquerra’s predecessor Michael Lynton. The setup remained the same when Vinciquerra came on board earlier this year, with Jeff Frost succeeding Van Amburg and Erlicht as a direct report when the two left in June. (Frost was named president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, overseeing domestic production sans international and marketing which had been part of Van Amburg and Erlicht’s purview, with Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter upped to co-presidents.)

    Moving forward, the heads of SPT’s domestic and international television production, distribution, advertiser sales and research, marketing and Sony Pictures Worldwide Networks will report to Hopkins.

    Hopkins’ departure from Hulu, which has been on an upswing, capped by the Emmy triumph of The Handmaid’s Tale, is somewhat surprising. Still, Hulu is a far away from catching up with SVOD leader Netflix.

    “Tony has long been a colleague and mentor of mine, and I’m really excited to join him and the rest of the talented team at SPE,” said Hopkins. “There is a tremendous opportunity to build on SPT’s momentum globally and I look forward to working with the team to realise that potential.”

    Under Hopkins, a 20-year industry veteran, Hulu has grown its audience to 47 million total unique viewers; expanded its business to include live news, entertainment and sports in addition to its existing SVOD offering; and entered premium original programming with Casual, The Mindy Project, The Path and The Handmaid’s Tale. On the acquisition front, Hulu has signed deals for movies from Epix, full libraries of exclusive programming from AMC Networks and FX Productions, as well as all episodes of such current and classic series as This is Us, Homeland, Black-ish, Seinfeld, CSI, Empire, Fargo, Nashville, Golden Girls and South Park.

    As President of Distribution for Fox Networks, Hopkins oversaw the distribution strategy, sales and marketing for the company’s 45 linear and non-linear U.S. channels, as well as on-demand and digital extensions. His team also developed authenticated and digital video products BTN2GO and Fox Now.

    The independent Sony Pictures TV Studios, which is facing increasing challenges and has been fighting its way through increasing vertical integration, will produce or co-produce more than 30 broadcast, cable and digital series on air in the 2017-2018 season. That includes The Blacklist and The Goldbergs, now in their fifth seasons; breakout new ABC drama The Good Doctor, already renewed for a full season; CBS’ S.W.A.T.; as well as The Tick, Atypical, Better Call Saul, Preacher, Outlander, The $100,000 Pyramid, SuperMansion and the upcoming Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams and Cobra Kai.

    Sony TV projects with big production commitment by the broadcast networks include Norman Lear’s Guess Who Died for NBC, Carol Mendohlson and David Hudgins’ Chiefs for CBS, and an untitled Gloria Calderon project for CBS.

  • Fox Sports, Major League Baseball ink seven year rights agreement

    Fox Sports, Major League Baseball ink seven year rights agreement

    MUMBAI: Fox Sports and Major League Baseball have inked an extensive seven-year national television rights agreement that keeps the World Series and All-Star Game exclusively on Fox through 2013.

    In addition to the Fall and Mid-Summer Classics, the network continues as the exclusive home of the Fox Saturday Afternoon Baseball Game of the Week as well as the American or National League Championship Series on a rotating basis for the contract’s duration.

    Fox Sports’ new agreement with MLB gives the network the rights to:

    • Up to 26 Fox Saturday Baseball Game of the Week regionalised single-header broadcasts, an increase from 18 previously;
    • Exclusive coverage of the American League Championship Series in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013;
    • Exclusive coverage of the National League Championship Series in 2008, 2010 and 2012;
    • Exclusive prime-time coverage of the World Series from 2007 through 2013 with Game 1 scheduled for the first Tuesday after completion of the LCS;
    • Exclusive prime-time coverage of the All-Star Game from 2007 through 2013;
    • This Week in Baseball, MLB’s award-winning, youth-oriented magazine show which precedes the Fox Saturday Baseball Game of the Week.

    “Fox has enjoyed 11 terrific years as the broadcast home of Major League Baseball, having covered some of the game’s most memorable moments. Major League Baseball is as popular today as ever… with new young stars and veteran players performing before hundreds of millions of fans in-person and on TV each year. The schedule this agreement provides enables Fox to combine the most-watched games of the year with the No. 1 prime-time lineup in America,” said Fox Networks group president and CEO Tony Vinciquerra.

    “For some time now, Major League Baseball has been a key component of Fox’s programming strategy. The games are an invaluable promotional platform – for both our new series and returning hits such as House, 24, Prison Break, Bones, The Simpsons, and Family Guy. We look forward to many more successful years with Major League Baseball, and are eager to see who will be on top come October,” said Fox Sports entertainment president Peter Liguori.

    The expanded Fox Saturday Baseball schedule gives baseball an over-the-air, April-through-September, “Game of the Week” for the first time since 1989, and Fox also retains exclusive rights to the MLB All-Star Game, annually the highest-rated All-Star event in sports. In 2005, the MLB All-Star Game out-rated the NBA All-Star Game in households by +65 per cent (8.1 vs. 4.9), and the NFL Pro Bowl by +98 per cent (vs. 4.1). In its history, the MLB All-Star Game has never been beaten by any other All-Star event on a same-year basis.

    MLB on Fox postseason coverage has been a significant contributor to the network’s prime time ratings success among adults 18-49. Fox research calculates that over the last five years, the World Series added a tenth of a ratings point on average to Fox’s Adults 18-49 season total, which is significant given that in each of the last three seasons the difference between first and second place has been just a tenth of a point.

    By renewing its rights as the national broadcast home of Major League Baseball, Fox Sports is positioned as home to more of America’s most-watched sports events than any other network. In the last two years, Fox Sports has retained broadcast rights to the NFL through 2011, NASCAR through 2014 and now MLB through 2013, while adding coverage of college football’s prestigious Bowl Championship Series through 2010.

    Fox Sports, already on its way to a tenth year as America’s top-rated network for sports, now boasts long-term agreements with each of America’s four highest-rated sports. No other network boasts a more robust, year-round schedule.

    A look at the Fox Sports event lineup over the next four years in particular reveals just how full its schedule is from January through December:

    Cotton Bowl (January 1)
    Bowl Championship Series (January)
    Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
    FedEx Orange Bowl
    Allstate Sugar Bowl
    BCS National Championship Game (2007-2009)
    NFC Playoffs (January)
    NFC Wild Card Game
    NFC Divisional Playoffs (2)
    NFC Championship Game (January)
    Super Bowl XLII (February 2008)
    Pro Bowl (February 2008)
    Daytona 500 (February)
    NASCAR regular- season coverage (February-May)
    MLB regular-season coverage (April-September)
    MLB All-Star Game (July)
    NFL regular-season (September-December)
    American or National League Championship Series (October)
    World Series (October)

    “Looking out over the next several years, Fox Sports has one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive, year-long schedules of any single outlet in the Big Four network era. Marquee sporting events have been, and will remain, among the best vehicles to corral mass audiences, especially hard-to-reach young males, and this schedule is about as DVR-proof as a sports schedule can be,” said Fox Sports chairman David Hill.

  • Scott Grogin is Fox senior VP, communications

    Scott Grogin is Fox senior VP, communications

    MUMBAI: Veteran Fox spokesperson Scott Grogin has been promoted to senior VP, corporate communications.

    Grogin will continue to be responsible for developing and executing business and tactical communications strategies on behalf of the network as well as serving as primary liaison to the daily trade, financial and business media.

    In addition, he will work closely with Fox Networks Group President and CEO Tony Vinciquerra and Fox Network President Ed Wilson on inter-divisional and affiliate relations initiatives, as well as serving as communications liaison between the broadcast network and various Fox Entertainment divisions, including Fox Networks Group, Fox Mobile Entertainment and Fox Interactive Marketing.