Fiction
Q3 FY26: Shemaroo’s digital rise is real, but losses keep mounting
MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment’s long-running pivot to digital is showing traction—but not nearly enough to stem the bleeding from its traditional media business.
The Mumbai-based media company reported consolidated revenue of Rs 1,607 million for the December quarter, down 2.25 per cent year-on-year, as a 13.8 per cent jump in digital media revenue failed to offset a 14.4 per cent slide in traditional segments. For the nine months ended December 2025, revenue slipped 7.75 per cent to Rs 4,436 million.
Losses, however, widened sharply. The company posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 554 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of Rs 364 million a year earlier. EBITDA plunged to a loss of Rs 674 million, pushing margins deeper into negative territory, with EBITDA margin deteriorating to minus 41.93 per cent.
For the nine-month period, net loss ballooned to Rs 1,465 million, while EBITDA losses swelled to Rs 1,776 million. Earnings per share for the period stood at minus Rs 53.60, underscoring the scale of the deterioration.
Costs told much of the story. Operational expenses climbed to Rs 1,501 crore in Q3, while employee benefit expenses rose to Rs 360 crore. Finance costs remained elevated at Rs 75 crore for the quarter and Rs 223 crore for the nine months, reflecting sustained balance-sheet stress. Loss before tax widened to Rs 756 crore in the December quarter.
Management attributed the weak performance to a bruising mix of industry headwinds: the return of major broadcasters to FreeDish, an overcrowded sports calendar and persistent softness in FMCG advertising, which hit traditional entertainment revenues hardest. While a recent GST rate cut is expected to stabilise advertising spends, margins are likely to remain under pressure in the near term.
Digital, however, continues to be the clear bright spot. Digital media contributed Rs 807 million in Q3 revenue, lifting its share of the business to 37 per cent, up from 20 per cent in the pre-2018 era. The company’s YouTube network clocked more than 9.5 billion views during the quarter, with Shemaroo FilmiGaane crossing 74 million subscribers and the flagship Shemaroo Entertainment channel topping 61 million.
On the content front, ShemarooMe released six new Gujarati titles across films, web series and plays, including world digital premieres such as Jai Mata Ji Let’s Rock, Auntypreneur, Shubhchintak and Vicki Ki Baraat, as it doubled down on regional and language-led storytelling.
Despite the red ink, the company maintained that much of the pain is accounting-driven. Inventory charge-offs linked to initiatives launched eight quarters ago, it said, have no bearing on content monetisation or free cash generation. The focus now is on shoring up the balance sheet, tightening operations and extracting long-term value from its digital assets.
Standalone numbers mirrored the pressure. Shemaroo Entertainment’s standalone net loss widened to Rs 557 crore in Q3, with nine-month losses touching Rs 1,489 crore, even as standalone revenue for the period reached Rs 4,166 crore.
Beyond the income statement, legal risks continued to loom. GST authorities have raised demands of over Rs 7,025 lakh, alongside penalties exceeding Rs 6,334 lakh, with additional penalties of Rs 133.61 crore each imposed on senior executives. While interim stays were granted by the Bombay high court, an appeal was disposed of in the department’s favour during the quarter. The company has since moved the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal and filed an updated writ petition, with hearings pending.
The unaudited results were reviewed by the audit committee and approved by the board at a meeting held on January 29, with statutory auditors Mukund M. Chitale & Co issuing a limited review and flagging no material misstatements.
Investors remain unconvinced. The stock closed December at Rs 108.70, well below its 52-week high of Rs 184, and has lagged the Sensex over the past year.
For Shemaroo, the verdict is stark: digital momentum is undeniable, but until legacy media, costs and legal overhangs are brought to heel, the recovery story remains unfinished.
Fiction
Banijay merges with All3Media in $6.65 billion deal
Marco Bassetti will lead the combined company as CEO
PARIS: Six years after acquiring Endemol Shine at the height of the pandemic, Banijay has struck again. The European production heavyweight is merging with All3Media in a deal that will create a television titan with $6.65 billion in revenue and redraw the contours of a fast-consolidating market.
The combined company will trade under the Banijay name and be owned 50 per cent each by Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in 2024. The transaction is expected to close by autumn, subject to regulatory approvals.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, will take the top job at the enlarged group. All3Media CEO Jane Turton becomes deputy CEO. RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will serve as chairman.
The logic is scale. Broadcasters are commissioning less, streamers are tightening budgets and global buyers are fewer but bigger. Against that backdrop, heft matters. The merged entity will generate roughly $6.65 billion in revenues based on 2024 figures, giving it sharper elbows in rights negotiations and deeper pockets for franchise-building.
“Entrepreneurialism, ambition and creativity” remain core to Banijay’s DNA, Bassetti said, flagging plans to invest more heavily in new intellectual property, live events and emerging platforms. Turton struck a similarly bullish note, pointing to All3Media’s journey from a 2003 start-up to a global supplier of hit formats and high-end drama.
Between them, the two groups control a formidable slate. Banijay’s catalogue spans MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and Deal or No Deal. All3Media’s labels include Studio Lambert, producer of The Traitors and Squid Game: The Challenge; Two Brothers, behind The Tourist; and Neal Street, currently producing the forthcoming Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes for Sony.
The back catalogue is equally muscular. Banijay Rights holds some 220,000 hours, while All3Media International adds around 35,000 hours, forming one of the industry’s largest libraries.
Banijay, controlled by French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit and listed in Amsterdam, counts more than 130 production companies across 25 territories. All3Media operates over 40 labels, with strong positions in the UK, US and Germany. The enlarged group will also lean into live entertainment, building on Banijay’s Balich Wonder Studio, which produced the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and the Independents.
The deal marks a shift in tone. As recently as October, Bassetti suggested that mergers and acquisitions were not a priority. But the drumbeat of consolidation has grown louder. Mediawan has moved for Peter Chernin’s North Road. David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros, with plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount plus. ITV has explored selling its media and entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky, though talks have reportedly slowed.
