Sony Pictures Network India has appointed Saugata Mukherjee as Head Of Content, SonyLIV, according to an update on his LinkedIn account.

Mukherjee wrote, “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Head of Content – SonyLIV.”

Mukherjee will lead the content division for Sony digital businesses and report to Danish Khan, Business Head, Sony LIV, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), and Studio Next.

Mukherjee, a veteran in the media and entertainment industry with over two decades of experience, was actually poached by HBO Max (now part of Warner Brothers Discovery) in September 2021 from SonyLIV.

So, in a way, it could be said that for Mukherjee it’s a homecoming of sorts. Earlier, he had done a longish stint at Star India before moving to Disney+Hotstar in 2018.

With Mukherjee’s appointment at HBO Max, the India launch looked probable as the streamer had announced expansion in European and Asian markets. But the merged WBD have put on hold India launch as, industry sources said, India’s a tough market to crack for a new streaming service, what with other global and domestic platforms already jostling for subscribers amidst high content cost.