Sun TV is an Indian Tamil-language general entertainment

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

channel owned by Sun TV Network. It was launched on 14 April 1993. It is the flagship channel of the

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

-based media conglomerate Sun Group's Sun TV Network. It was founded and is owned by Kalanithi Maran. It started airing on open network (Antenna) on 14 July 2002 at the time of "Majunu" Tamil movie premiering. Then it was removed from this open network on 2005. It was also removed from free on 9 November 2007. Sun TV launched its HD version on 11 December 2011. Since its inception, the channel consistently remains the top rated Tamil channel and one of the top rated Indian television channel.

History

Kalanithi Maran has been interested in television since his trip to the United States where he did an MBA at the University of Scranton in the mid-1980s. At the time, Doordarshan controlled the entirety of India's television landscape. Upon returning, he had plans to set up a television channel, but the plans were thwarted by the ongoing monopoly and the lack of liberalisation of the sector. Sun TV is the flagship channel of Sun TV Network which started on the Tamil New Year, 14 April 1993. It started off with a four and a half hour programming per day on a time sharing agreement with ATN, India's first independent television channel, having rejected a proposal for an afternoon slot on

Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...

. In January 1997, it started 24-hour broadcasts. In 1995, it signed an agreement with ST Teleport in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

to provide uplink. Singapore Cable Vision added the channel on 1 October 1996. Sun TV went to become one of the most profitable television channels in India, considering that, as late as 2009, one third of households in India with television sets were in Tamil Nadu and adjacent states. Sun TV was listed on the

Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange based in Mumbai. It is the 6th largest stock exchange in the world by total market capitalization, exceeding $5 trillion in May 2024. Established with t ...

on 24 April 2006 upon raising $133 million. It is the most viewed Tamil television channel in the world with syndicated broadcasts in several countries such as the United States, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Qatar, Hong Kong, Europe (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands and Ireland) and other countries. In October 2009, Sun TV's network of channels had a sum of 21 programmes among the 100 most watched; more than 16 shows came from the Zee network.

Programming

Scandal

On 8 December 2013, the Little India Riot broke out at

. On 9 December 2013, Sun TV made a false news report on the riot saying that the deceased was pushed out of the bus by the driver, as well as attacked by locals. Lim Thuan Kuan, Singapore's High Commissioner to India, protest against the false report. As a result, Sun TV issued a correction the following day and apologized for the error.

Awards

Sun TV also hosts numerous film-industry–related events in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and the Sun Kudumbam Awards ceremony biannually.

Sister channels

KTV

KTV is an Indian Tamil language movie

channel owned by Sun TV Network, broadcasting Tamil language films. It was launched on 22 October 2001.

Sun Music

Sun Music is India's first Tamil language music

channel owned by Sun TV Network. It was launched on 5 September 2004. Its HD counterpart was launched on 11 December 2011.

Chutti TV

Chutti TV is an Indian Tamil language kids

channel from the Sun TV Network in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The

target audience The target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to the previously intended audience. In marketing and advertising, the target audience is a particular group of cons ...

are children aged between 3 and 17. It was launched on 29 April 2007, making it Sun TV Network's first ever television channel for kids.

Adithya TV

Adithya TV is an Indian Tamil language comedy

channel owned by Sun TV Network in

. It was launched on 8 February 2009.

Sun News

Sun News is an Indian Tamil language news

channel owned by Sun TV Network, headquartered at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was launched on 7 May 2000.

Sun Life

Sun Life is an Indian Tamil language classic movie

channel owned by Sun TV Network, which broadcasts classic movies. It was launched in 2013.

References

External links

{{Nifty 200 companies Tamil-language television channels Foreign television channels broadcasting in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations established in 1993 Sun Group Television stations in Chennai Indian companies established in 1993 1993 establishments in Tamil Nadu