Sony Group CEO Yoshida Kenichiro says on Wednesday there are no plans to either sell off Sony Pictures Entertainment or to create its own direct-to-consumer streaming service.
The Japanese entertainment and technology group has seen its fortunes rise this year, thanks to strong earnings and revised valuation estimates.
Though initially criticised for being left behind in the streaming race, which then fueled potential acquisition rumors, Sony has caught up quick thanks to new major deals to license its content to Netflix and Disney in different pay-TV windows.
The result is the studio not only doesn’t have to spend the multi-billions in outlay required to build their own service, they’re also scoring revenue from license fees and are able to pump it into creating new product. In an interview with the Financial Times, Yoshida says:
“There is a drastic realignment in the media industry, but I think our strategy of creating content as an independent studio while working with various partners will work.”
A big part of that will be Sony’s push to make all the different parts of its music, games and video group work better together:
“I think the reason we were able to sign good deals with Netflix and Disney is because they were attracted to our PlayStation Productions pipeline. We can strengthen our ability to create content through such group-wide collaboration.”
Two examples of this intra-group collaboration are the recent record-breaking Japanese film “Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train” and the upcoming “Uncharted” movie adaptation with the first ultra-brief glimpse of footage from the latter seen in a Sony employee showreel just released and available below.
While Sony may not be building its own SVOD infrastructure, they still plan to strengthen their initiatives in the service, mobile and social spaces to expand the number of people around the world directly connected to the Sony Group.
