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History

Sun TV Network Ltd was incorporated as Sumangali Publications Pvt Ltd on December 18, 1985. It originally began as a Tamil satellite channel and further expanded to other languages like Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.  The company also has its own earth station. Sun TV began as a 4.5-hour-a-day channel on the Tamil New Year’s Day on April 14, 1993, on a time-sharing arrangement with ATN. It became a 24-hour channel in January 1995.

The company launched KTV, a 24-hour film-based Tamil channel, in October 2002. Sun Music, a 24-hour Tamil music channel, was started in 2004. In 2003, the company’s first radio Frequency Modulation (FM) channel in Tamil came into existence in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli. The company changed its name to    got its current name Sun TV Network Ltd, on April 24, 2007. In September 2008, Sun TV Network Ltd announced the launch of its film production venture through its latest division, ‘Sun Pictures’.

On January 4, 2012, Sun TV Network launched 4 ad-free action movie channels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. In April 2012, it announced the launch of 4 additional channels on the DISH platform in the USA. On October 25, 2012, Sun TV Network announced its successful bid for the role of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisee for the Hyderabad Franchise. 

In February 2016, YuppTV, the world’s largest Over-The-Top (OTT) provider of Indian content, announced its tie-up with Sun TV to offer various regional entertainment options to its users. In June 2017, Sun TV Network started its new digital content platform named ‘Sun NXT’ in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. In 2018-19, the company commenced the transmission of a new Bengali general entertainment channel named SUN Bangla.

Business Segments

The group’s operations are predominantly related to Media and Entertainment, and, accordingly, this is the only operating segment. However, its operations within media and entertainment can be roughly divided into the following verticals:

1. TV Channels: The company’s flagship channel is Sun TV. Other major satellite channels include Surya TV, Gemini TV, Udaya TV, Sun Bangla, Sun Marathi, KTV, Sun Music, Chutti TV, Sun News, SuryaTV, GeminiTV, Teja News, Gemini Music, Gemini News, Gemini Cable Vision, UdayaTV, Udaya Movies, Udaya News, etc.
2. Film production: The company has its own film production venture as well for producing film content.
3. Radio: Presently, it is in the business of FM Radio broadcasting in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli. 
4. IPL Franchise: The company owns the license to operate the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise franchise ‘Sun Risers Hyderabad’. 
5. OTT platform: The company also operates an OTT platform ‘SUNNXT’. It currently operates 55 FM radio stations in all important cities and towns in India, as of March 31, 2023.

In December 2009, Sun TV Network announced the redesign of its distribution business and teams via the creation of two verticals, one focused on managing the South Indian and international operations and the second focused on distributing the Sun TV offerings into the North, West and Eastern Markets of India. 

Subsidiaries

Sun TV Network has two subsidiaries, viz.:

1. Kal Radio Limited – Sun TV owns 98.18% of Kal Radio Ltd.
2. South Asia FM Limited (SAFM) – SAFM is considered a subsidiary under the Companies Act, 2013, but is considered a joint venture under Ind AS accounting standards.

Key Personnel

Maheshkumar Rajaraman, Managing Director

In his initial career, Mr Rajaraman had worked in Citi Bank and American Express Bank. Thereafter, he became an associate at KPMG and worked there in 1994-96. He then worked at Hathway Investments Pvt Ltd. till 1999. He then became the CEO and MD of Sun Direct Pvt Ltd. Thereafter, he became President of Sun TV Network Ltd in 2015 and then MD of the same in 2016.

Corporate Actions

Sun TV has conducted the following corporate actions in recent years:

Bonus Issue

The company offered bonus shares at 1:1 with the ex-date of July 23, 2007. 

Stock Split

The company conducted a stock split with an ex-date of July 23, 2007.