Sony Financial News

Sony Sports Network has appointed Bollywood’s Gen Z superstar and youth icon Kartik Aaryan as their brand ambassador for football. During his partnership with Sony Sports Network, Kartik will be seen promoting LIVE football action on Sony Sports Network around the year with 900+ matches from marquee football tournaments and leagues, which include UEFA EURO 2024, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, UEFA Nations League, Bundesliga, Emirates FA Cup, Durand Cup, and Roshn Saudi League, amongst others. Kartik Aaryan, who has enthralled audiences with stellar performances on the silver screen, is also known for his enthusiasm and fandom for the game of football. His love for the game began at an early age, and he is a dedicated Real Madrid fan, the most successful club in the history of the UEFA Champions League. Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer of distribution and international Business, and Head of Sports Business, at Sony Pictures Networks India, said: “It gives us immense pleasure to announce Kartik Aaryan as the Brand Ambassador of football on Sony Sports Network.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises share price jumped 6 per cent in early trade on BSE on Thursday, December 21, a day after the company in an exchange filing signalled that Sony Pictures Entertainment and Zee Entertainment Enterprises will give themselves some more time for the proposed merger. "The company is now in receipt of a communication from Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (CMEPL) and Bangla Entertainment Private Limited (BEPL) that they will enter into good faith negotiations as required under the Merger Cooperation Agreement (MCA) entered amongst the parties, the company, CMEPL and BEPL, to discuss the extension of the date required to make the scheme effective by a reasonable period," said Zee in a BSE filing on Wednesday, December 20.

ZEE Sony Pictures Networks has agreed to enter into negotiations to discuss a possible extension of the date to complete the merger deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Ultratech The company has entered into a share subscription and shareholders agreement to acquire 26% equity shares of Clean Max Terra. ICICI Bank RBI has approved the re-appointment of Sandeep Batra as Executive Director of the Bank with effect from December 23. Read more: Here's the trade setup for today's session Mazagon Dock The union government has signed a contract worth Rs 1,615 crore with Mazagon Dock for buying 6 next generation offshore patrol vessels for the Indian Coast Guard. Cochin Shipyard The company has signed a contract with MoD for a value of Rs 488.25 crore.

By Sam Nussey

viewership share, Reliance Industries-owned Viacom18 is aiming to grow revenue market share in Hindi and Kannada general entertainment categories, which generate combined ad revenues of more than ₹9,000 crore each year, said a top company executive. As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data for urban NCCS ABC audiences aged 15-50, the company's Hindi GEC Colors has grown its evening prime-time market share from about 20% in week 27 to 27% in week 49. Meanwhile, Colors Kannada has lifted its viewership share from 27% in week 27 to a whopping 37.2% in week 49 to become the top Kannada GEC. Both Colors and Colors Kannada compete with channels run by Disney Star, Zee Entertainment, Sony Pictures Networks India and Sun TV Networks. Kevin Vaz, chief executive of Viacom18's TV business, said the company's strategy of catering to an entire family by offering a mix of fiction and non-fiction content has played a major role in growing viewership. Fiction shows primarily attract female audiences, while non-fiction shows like Bigg Boss cut across age and gender. «Revenue share will grow automatically as viewership share increases. However, there is a time lag in monetising that viewership growth,» Vaz told ET. He said both Colors and Colors Kannada are onboarding new advertisers even as existing advertisers are boosting their spending on the two channels encouraged by viewership growth. According to a Pitch Madison report, total TV and digital video ad spends in India stood at ₹31,000 crore and ₹10,000 crore, respectively, in 2022.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd have chosen to give themselves some more time, two persons directly aware of the matter said. The development comes after Sony and Zee failed to find common ground despite protracted discussions, securing regulatory approvals, and spending over ₹300 crore in merger-related expenses. An agreement between Sony’s India business (Culver Max Entertainment Pvt.

Sony Pictures Networks has agreed to enter into negotiations to discuss a possible extension of the date to complete the merger deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises. “The company is in receipt of a communication from CMEPL and BEPL that they will enter into good faith negotiations…with a view to discuss the extension of the date required to make the scheme effective by a reasonable period of time,” Zee Entertainment said in an exchange filing. The deadline to complete the merger announced 2 years back was December 21. CMEPL is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation (SGC). BEPL is also an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of SGC and a part of the SGC Group. Last week, Zee Entertainment had informed that the company has sought an extension from Sony Pictures to complete the merger deal. «SPNI is required to start those conversations but has not yet agreed to a deadline extension,» Sony Pictures had then said in a statement. «We look forward to hearing Zee’s proposals and how they plan to complete the remaining critical closing conditions,» it said. The proposed $10-billion merger of Zee Entertainment and Sony Pictures received regulatory approvals from the Competition Commission of India, bourses NSE and BSE, shareholders and creditors of the company. In August this year, the Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) also gave a go-ahead to the merger of Zee Entertainment and Sony Pictures. As per the agreements, Zee Ent’s MD & CEO Punit Goenka has to lead the merger entity.

₹20 lakhs. However, the auction story for Singh didn't end after he was bought for ₹20 lakh by Punjab Kings. Within minutes after completing the IPL bid for Singh for ₹20 lakh, PBKS co-owner Preity Zinta raised their hand after discussing with members to interrupt the IPL auctioneer Mallika Soni.

merger still hangs in the balance. Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) Tuesday said it hasn't yet decided on extending the Thursday, December 21, deadline to complete the merger with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL).

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Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) fell nearly 5% to the day's low of Rs 267.15 on NSE on Tuesday after Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) said that it has not yet agreed to a deadline extension requested by ZEEL for their merger, and is looking forward to knowing how the latter planned to complete the remaining critical closing conditions. The news did not go down well with the investors as significant selling pressure was seen on the counter. At 1:50 pm, over 2.59 crore shares changed hands on the NSE.

By Anton Bridge and Makiko Yamazaki

Karan Taurani, Senior VP, Elara Securities, says “we believe that over the next two days, we will get clarity in terms of where that is heading. Otherwise, if the extension is sought for, the extension could be for three to four months and that would primarily be for the regulatory approvals which is from the MIB side, maybe a fresh approval with the ROC side for the new CEO, some kind of shareholder approval for the new CEO. It will not require any big regulatory hurdle in terms of a fresh NCLT approval because NCLT approval is not time-bound. Let us just get in a view because there has been so much flip-flop. Just last week, there was a request by Zee Entertainment to extend that deadline. What exactly is the implication of Sony Pictures saying that this triggers an existing contractual provision in the deal? This does not mean that by any means it is being called off? Yes, absolutely. Zee sought an extension on the deal and Sony has failed to agree on the same. This is one thing that the likelihood of the deal getting called off remains to be low primarily because of this reason. Because if the deal was to be called off, this kind of extension would not have been sought. Now, what we believe is that negotiations are ongoing between both the parties and we believe that Mr Punit Goenka wanting to be the CEO could be a potential roadblock here in terms of the merger going through, in terms of Sony wanting or not wanting an extension.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises lost nearly 5 percent in intraday trading on Tuesday following a report by Mint indicating that Sony Pictures is unlikely to extend the timeline for the $10 billion merger of its India Business with Zee. The development puts the country's largest-ever entertainment deal on the brink of collapse after enduring months of discussions, particularly concerning the appointment of a CEO for the combined entity. The uncertainty surrounding the merger's fate has added to the ongoing challenges and debates within the companies involved.

HCL Technologies and Persistent Systems considering the recent rally in these stocks. The brokerage firm believes the recent strong rally limits further upside in select stocks in the IT sector. HCL Tech share price has gained nearly 11 per cent while Persistent Systems share price has gained over 9 per cent in December so far.

House Rent Allowance (HRA) option if provided by employer as a part of salary. But one question that usually crops up is whether both rent receipts and rent agreement required as proof to make the claim? «Rent agreement is important but may not be a sufficient document on its own to claim HRA exemption for tax purposes,» says Akhil Chandna, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat. «Rent receipts serve as evidence that the employee has actually paid the rent amount mentioned in the rent agreement. Hence, it is advisable for an employee to maintain rent receipts along with the rent agreement; and furnish these before the assessing officer when questioned.» Mere execution of a rent agreement does not guarantee actual rental payments, explains Tarun Kumar Madaan, Tax Head, Coherent Advisors. «Some individuals may execute rent agreements with family members but not make rental payment transactions. In such cases, the absence of rent receipts and proof of actual payments could lead to the denial of the HRA claim by the assessing officer.»

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has said that it has not yet agreed to extend the deadline to complete the merger deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL). In a statement, the company said it looks forward to hearing ZEE’s proposals and how they plan to complete the remaining critical closing conditions. “ZEE’s notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India dated December 17 is an acknowledgement that they will not be able to meet the December 21, 2023 deadline to close the SPNI/ZEE merger," the SPNI statement reads. It added that the notice triggers an existing contractual provision in the deal that allows for both parties to discuss the possibility of extending the deadline. «SPNI is required to start those conversations but has not yet agreed to a deadline extension.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. This brings the country’s largest-ever entertainment deal to the brink of collapse after months of debate over the appointment of a chief executive officer (CEO) for the merged entity. Two persons aware of Sony’s plans confirmed this on condition of anonymity.

Sony group's Indian arm Sony Pictures Networks India (now known as Culver Max Entertainment) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is likely to be put off by several months.

Stock market today: Yes Bank shares have been in uptrend for near one month. However, it seems that the private bank stock is still not in mood to stop its rally. Yes Bank share price today opened upside and went on to climb to a new 52-week peak of ₹23 per share levels on NSE, logging an intraday gain of near 5 per cent during Monday stock market deals.

Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2024 on February 1 next year. It will be an interim Budget as the elections for the Lok Sabha are due early next year. The full Budget for FY25 will be presented after the formation of the new government.