Sony Writes Down Value Of ‘Hilda’ Producer Silvergate Media By $50 Million

Just over four years after purchasing Hilda and Peter Rabbit production house Silvergate Media for $195 million, Sony has written down value of the company by $50 million, and Silvergate co-founder William Astor has stepped down as the company’s chair.

According to Deadline, which broke the valuation news, Sony’s U.K. Parent company, Columbia Pictures Corporation, revealed the adjustment in its latest financial statement, covering the period from April 2022 to March 2023. Columbia Pictures Corporation posted revenues of £427 million ($544.8 million) during that time, an 8% decline from the previous year.

Astor’s departure was confirmed by Variety.

Silvergate Media, which was quietly rebranded as Sony Pictures Television – Kids in 2022, made and makes popular and successful kids’ programming, including the BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated Netflix series Hilda, which just aired its third and final season, and Nickelodeon and BBC’s Daytime Emmy-winning series Peter Rabbit. The company also owns the Octonauts franchise.

It’s not just Columbia and Sony that are suffering in the U.K. right now. The region’s kids’ and family industry is in a slump as production costs are going up while tv viewership is dropping. Two years ago, the British government controversially axed the Young Audiences Content Fund, which provided funding for the development of kids’ content as well as up to half the production budgets of some projects. Since then, industry collective Animation UK has worked tirelessly to draft new legislation to make up for the loss.

The Children’s Media Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to ensuring U.K children have access to the best possible media, is similarly worried about funding issues and will host a summit in March to address those concerns as well as other key issues that will impact the future of kids’ content production in the U.K.