Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) is set to enter the Tamil general entertainment market with its GEC, Sony Vizha, having secured the necessary operating licenses from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting last month. Eyeing the opportunity in the Tamil Nadu market, it will launch MasterChef Tamil, featuring actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and Tamil Idol, the first Tamil adaptation of the global singing competition format, with AR Rahman.
The move marks a shift in SPNI’s approach to growth, which has been historically built around Hindi language entertainment. As per BARC data shared in 2025, the Tamil general entertainment market reached 7 crore people weekly, which translates to over 90% of the state’s households. The state leads the South markets with an estimated Rs 2,900-Rs 3,100 crore in TV ad spending, as per Pitch Madison’s Advertising Report in 2025.
The media and entertainment conglomerate will steadily invest in regional content over the next two years, according to managing director and CEO, Gaurav Banerjee. Speaking at a media engagement event, he unveiled SPNI’s content slate ahead of the festive season, spanning sports, regional, fiction and reality programming. Banerjee declined to comment on SPNI’s investments.
Sony is entering the Tamil market rather late, given that JioStar, Sun TV and Zee already have a strong presence. Banerjee acknowledges that SPNI is the “underdog” in the region but is confident that the network’s content will draw viewers and advertisers. “We cannot be thinking about competition. The attention metric is the most critical for us, and our focus will remain on curating and creating compelling stories,” he said.
In its multilingual expansion, SPNI has also roped in Bollywood icon Madhuri Dixit to host the Marathi edition of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), titled Kon Honar Crorepati. Banerjee added that the network will launch the show in other languages too, but didn’t specify a timeline for that. Aside from Marathi and Tamil, the network is also looking to expand its content repertoire in Bangla and Telugu. Banerjee asserted that this expansion will not be at the cost of Hindi content.
“We will continue to add new shows in Hindi entertainment — in fiction and non-fiction,” he added. While KBC will headline the festive season slate in Hindi entertainment, cricket star Rohit Sharma will make his debut with his own show on the network, and actor Ajay Devgn will host true-crime series Crime Patrol 2026. The network also announced Indian Game Show, hosted by YouTube stars Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa, whose channel has over 9 million subscribers. Unlike rival JioStar, the network has no plans to enter the micro drama market yet.
SPNI also announced a packed sports calendar from August 15 to December 1, which includes the India cricket tour of Sri Lanka, women’s T20 Asia Cup and the Asian Games. Banerjee also expressed optimism in terms of advertiser sentiment this festive season, despite current geopolitical challenges. “We expect robust growth across advertising and subscription engines over the next few years. Though there are geopolitical pressures, some of our big IPs continue to stay strong. KBC is a clear example of that,” he said. The show has a roster of over 25 advertisers on television, including Google Gemini, Maruti Suzuki and Aditya Birla Group. SonyLIV recorded an 80% year-on-year increase in ad revenue for KBC this year.
In FY26, SPNI’s advertising revenue grew by 19% to Rs 3,165 crore, offsetting a 4% decline in subscription revenue to Rs 3,254 crore.