Film Production
Balaji eyes revival as digital losses narrow and OTT comeback planned
MUMBAI: The drama at Balaji Telefilms has taken a sharp turn and this time, it’s playing out on the balance sheet. The content powerhouse slipped into the red for the quarter ended 30 June 2025, posting a consolidated net loss of Rs 594.6 lakh, a far cry from the Rs 94.0 crore profit it clocked in the preceding March quarter.
Revenue from operations fell 51 per cent year-on-year to Rs 72.8 crore, down from Rs 149.2 crore in Q1 FY24, as all three segments took a hit. Commissioned programmes brought in Rs 49.9 crore (down from Rs 75.4 crore), films collapsed to Rs 1.4 crore from a blockbuster Rs 73.2 crore, and digital revenue rose to Rs 29.1 crore from Rs 9.8 crore but still bore the shadow of the OTT platform’s regulatory shutdown in July.
Production and acquisition costs surged to Rs 95.8 crore, while marketing expenses stood at Rs 5.38 crore and employee costs at Rs 8.53 crore. Depreciation came in at Rs 1.76 crore, and finance costs eased to Rs 21.8 lakh. Other expenses, at Rs 11.2 crore, added to the squeeze.
Segment-wise, commissioned programmes swung to a Rs 5.45 crore loss, films lost Rs 2.27 crore, and digital narrowed losses to Rs 92 lakh from Rs 2.08 crore a year ago. Assets in the digital segment have shrunk to Rs 99.9 crore from Rs 246.8 crore last year, reflecting the OTT disruption.
Despite the setback, Balaji says it is “taking active steps” to comply with regulations and re-enter the digital fray. Until then, investors may have to wait for the next season to see if the plot delivers a turnaround.
Film Production
Disney to cut 1,000 jobs under new chief executive
The entertainment giant’s freshly installed boss inherits a restructuring already in motion, with marketing and corporate roles bearing the brunt
CALIFORNIA: Walt Disney is preparing to slash up to 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the entertainment giant’s freshly installed chief executive moves swiftly to trim fat and tighten the ship.
The cuts, less than 1 per cent of Disney’s global workforce of 231,000, will fall hardest on marketing and corporate roles. The planning, notably, began before D’Amaro formally took the top job in March, suggesting the new boss inherited a restructuring already in motion rather than one of his own making.
Driving the push is Asad Ayaz, Disney’s newly appointed chief marketing officer, who in January assumed command of a unified, company-wide marketing operation spanning film, television and streaming. His consolidation drive has been given a suitably cinematic internal name: Project Imagine.
The move is modest by Disney’s recent standards. Between 2023 and 2025, under former chief executive Bob Iger, the company eliminated roughly 8,000 positions across several brutal rounds of cuts, saving $7.5 billion, comfortably exceeding its own targets. As recently as June 2025, several hundred more jobs were axed across Disney Entertainment, hitting film and television marketing, publicity, casting, development and corporate finance.
Disney’s structural headaches are well-documented: shrinking streaming margins, a weakened box office, and fierce competition from Amazon and YouTube gnawing at its flanks. The company is merging its Disney+ and Hulu teams into a single app, has brought in consultants from Bain & Co to guide its broader cost strategy, and is betting heavily on digital growth.
The wider entertainment industry offers little comfort. Sony Pictures, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have all taken the knife to their workforces in recent years, and further cuts loom if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner goes through.
For D’Amaro, the message is clear: there will be no honeymoon period. The magic kingdom still has some cost-cutting spells left to cast.
