The development comes four months after the company’s merger agreement with Zee Entertainment collapsed. The merger deal was key to SPNI’s ambition of scaling up in the Indian market.
SPNI terminated the merger deal with Zee and asked the latter to pay $90 million in termination fees. Incidentally, just a day prior to Singh’s announcement, Zee had made a counter demand of $90 million in termination fees against SPNI.
“After nearly 44 years in my career, including a rewarding 25-year tenure at SPNI, I have decided to move on from my role as MD and CEO,” Singh said in an internal email.
“Having reached many significant milestones with our team, I am now ready to focus on social change and shift from operational roles to advisory ones,” he added.Singh also said SPNI has begun structured succession planning to find the new CEO. “Finding the right fit is our top priority,” he noted.Sources privy to the development say that the company is looking at both internal and external candidates for the top job.
Sony Pictures Entertainment COO Ravi Ahuja and Singh will directly oversee the process to appoint the new CEO, the sources added.
The decision to find a new CEO comes at a time when the TV broadcasting sector is at a crossroads, with subscription fees remaining flat and ad revenue declining due to competition from YouTube and OTT.
SPNI, which doesn’t have a presence in regional TV markets, is also facing challenges with its flagship Hindi entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television facing tough competition from Star Plus, Colors, and Zee TV.
