Ravi Ahuja ‘s Sony Pictures strategy: skip mega-mergers, license to streamers, build franchises across platforms. Here’s what he said and where it’s weak.
Paramount cleared the last hurdle to absorb Warner Bros. Discovery this month, and it did so by committing to release at least 30 theatrical films a year.
Sony Pictures CEO Ravi Ahuja spent his time on stage at a Financial Times entertainment conference arguing he has no interest in getting bigger. That is not modesty. It is a thesis. Ahuja’s Sony Pictures strategy treats scale as something that helps you distribute content, not something that helps you make it. With a record-setting Spider-Man and a franchise-best Resident Evil opening as evidence, he made a case worth taking seriously. Here is what he said, and where it holds up.
Scale Helps Streamers, Not Studios
Ahuja was specific about where size pays. “I think in streaming and distribution, there is value to scale,” he said, pointing to Netflix, which can outspend rivals because it spreads costs across more subscribers. Making hits is a different job. “We don’t need to become even bigger,” he said, before adding a hedge: “I’m not saying this strategy is for everyone. But for us, I think it’s a really good strategy.”
He has a scoreboard to point to. Spider-Man: Brand New Day passed the $936.7 million that Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned to become the highest-grossing release in North American history. Resident Evil opened to $60 million, a franchise best, on a reported $75 million budget.
Half Supplier, Half Direct
Sony’s film group runs the traditional windows: theaters first, then home video, then streaming about 90 to 100 days later. Its TV business mostly sells to streamers, while Crunchyroll and Alamo Drafthouse reach consumers directly. Ahuja’s summary: “kind of half and half. Half a supplier, but half direct.”
The Netflix pay-one deal shows how that works. Sony renewed Netflix’s U.S. rights and extended them worldwide. That cuts risk, but not to zero, because what Netflix pays depends on how a film performs. “We still have to deliver,” he said. On the TV side, Ahuja says Sony logged 18 number-one debuts over the past 12 months across about nine platforms. “We’re making hits for everyone,” he said.
Licensing Beats Selling
The fine print matters. “We’re not selling them the show. We’re licensing them the show,” Ahuja said. Series return to Sony’s library after five to ten years, ready for another deal. On TV, both sides must green-light a show. On film, the green light belongs to Sony alone.
The Weak Spot: Fewer Buyers
Here is where I’d push. Ahuja said he thinks less about how many companies buy from suppliers and more about their health. His wish for the merging companies is that they “pay down the debt really quickly, they make a lot of money, and then they can buy a lot of content.” Then he added, “Obviously, that’s what I’m after.” A supplier’s prayer, in other words: get healthy, then send checks.
It is a fair answer and an incomplete one. One fewer buyer means one fewer bidder, and I’d argue Sony’s model leans on bidding tension. The film side is also more concentrated than the “hits for everyone” line suggests, since the pay-one window for Sony’s movies now sits with a single streamer worldwide.
Meanwhile, the combined Paramount-Warner must release at least 30 films a year for two years and 32 after that, according to CNN Business. Ahuja thinks theaters can take it: “I always thought this year would be the test of whether young people will go to movies, or will just keep watching their phones. But it’s pretty clear they want to go to movies.” One strong year proves less than it feels like, and he knows it. “Things go up and down,” he said.
Buy IP and Skills, Skip the Mega Deal
Sony’s recent purchases show the pattern. It took a majority stake in Peanuts less than a year ago, invested in the shared-reality venue Cosm, bought Alamo Drafthouse two years ago and took a long-term lease on the Cinerama Dome. “We’re primarily interested in IP and capabilities,” Ahuja said.
Big mergers fail that test. “I’m definitely not interested in big mega M&A,” he said, calling them costly and “a very difficult thing to combine in.” His preferred position: “we’re agile, we’re differentiated, we’re able to move very quickly.”
The same logic runs across Sony’s sister companies. Ahuja pointed to PlayStation game IP behind Uncharted, The Last of Us on TV, a Helldivers movie and God of War for Amazon. He said none of it is mandated from headquarters.
Jeopardy! and the Open Franchise
Ahuja’s clearest example of the alternative is Jeopardy!. It airs on U.S. TV stations, on Netflix as Pop Culture Jeopardy!, on ABC in primetime as Jeopardy! Masters, and on YouTube. Audience overlap between them is small, he said, and ratings are up year over year. “We’re taking advantage of media fragmentation across platforms to build franchises,” he said.
That breaks with the old idea of a franchise kept in a closed system. Sony, in his words, is “very content-focused and untethered or unconstrained by having to go to one particular platform.”
What to Watch Next
Ahuja’s plan has a clear test ahead. In 2027, Sony has a Spider-Verse film and The Legend of Zelda, and Crunchyroll is growing at double-digit rates. “For sure, there will be another Spider-Man,” he said. The question is whether buyers stay flush and numerous enough to keep paying for hits. If they do, staying small, fast and everywhere will look smart. If they don’t, the debt-paydown prayer becomes a strategy.
Mini FAQ
Why won’t Sony pursue a big studio merger?
Ahuja said mega-M&A carries a high price and is hard to integrate. He prefers Sony’s position as agile and differentiated. Sony buys IP and capabilities instead, such as Peanuts, Cosm and Alamo Drafthouse, and he says it is already at scale in creating IP.
How does Sony’s Netflix deal work?
Sony’s films go to theaters, then home video, then to streaming about 90 to 100 days later. Netflix holds the first streaming window, called pay-one, which Sony renewed in the U.S. and extended worldwide. Netflix’s payment depends on how a film performs, so Sony still carries some risk.
Can theaters handle 30 films a year from Paramount-Warner?
Under the California settlement, the combined company must release at least 30 films a year for two years, then 32. Ahuja thinks the market can absorb it, citing younger audiences returning to theaters this year. He also said the business goes up and down, so one good year does not settle the question.
