Mumbai: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has unveiled its festive-season content slate, bringing together fiction, reality, sports, movies and regional programming as the company strengthens its content-first, platform-agnostic and multilingual entertainment strategy.
The slate spans premium intellectual properties, globally successful formats adapted for Indian audiences, new homegrown concepts and a packed calendar of live sports. The content will be available across SPNI’s television network and digital platform Sony LIV, which has introduced the new brand positioning, ‘It All LIVs Here’, positioning the platform as the digital home for SPNI’s entertainment and sports offerings.
The festive-season lineup is headlined by Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 18, which premieres today on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV. Returning with the campaign thought ‘Sochna Padega’, the show continues its focus on knowledge, aspiration and life-changing stories.
SPNI is also expanding its Hindi entertainment portfolio with cricket icon Rohit Sharma making his entertainment debut with his own show on the network. Ajay Devgn will host Crime Patrol 2026, a true-crime series based on real-life cases, while Indian Game Show, hosted by Bharti Singh and Harssh Limbachiyaa, will bring celebrities together for a series of challenges.
The slate further includes Scam 2010, a Sony LIV, Birla Studios and Applause Entertainment series directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Hansal Mehta, chronicling the rise and fall of a massive financial empire.
The company is also stepping up its multilingual programming. Madhuri Dixit will host Kon Honar Crorepati, the Marathi edition of the KBC format. For Tamil audiences, Sony LIV will present MasterChef Tamil, featuring Samantha Ruth Prabhu, alongside Tamil Idol, the first Tamil adaptation of the global singing competition format, with music maestro A.R. Rahman leading the search for Tamil Nadu’s next singing talent.
Sports will form another major pillar of SPNI’s festive offering, with the Sony Sports Network’s Festival of Sports running from August 15 to December 1, 2026. The calendar will feature the India tour of Sri Lanka, Women’s T20 Asia Cup, Asian Games and India’s all-format tour of New Zealand, offering more than three months of international cricket and multi-sport action.
Commenting on the slate, Gaurav Banerjee, Managing Director & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), said, “India’s entertainment landscape is increasingly being shaped by audiences who move freely across languages, genres and screens. Our focus is therefore on building compelling intellectual properties and stories that can connect with audiences wherever and however they choose to watch. This festive slate brings that approach to life. It combines some of our most enduring franchises with new formats, marquee talent, a growing regional portfolio and an exceptional calendar of live sport. From Kaun Banega Crorepati and our new Hindi entertainment properties to our offerings in Marathi and Tamil, we are building a wider and more diverse content portfolio, with our television network and Sony LIV working together to take it to audiences across India.”
The company said the slate reflects its broader content-first approach, growing multilingual portfolio and focus on taking intellectual properties to audiences across screens, with its television network and Sony LIV operating as complementary platforms.
SPNI, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, Japan, operates 29 premium television channels across SD and HD formats, along with Sony LIV, Sony Sports Network and Studio NEXT. The network reaches more than 700 million viewers in India and is available in more than 150 countries.
