# Sun TV (India)

Sun TV is an Indian Tamil-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Sun TV Network. It was launched on 14 April 1993. It is the flagship channel of the Chennai-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. In January 1997, it started 24-hour broadcasts.
In 1995, it signed an agreement with ST Teleport in Singapore 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 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.

## Scandal

On 8 December 2013, the Little India Riot broke out at Singapore. 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 and the Sun Kudumbam Awards ceremony biannually.

## Sister channels
### KTV

KTV is an Indian Tamil language movie pay television 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 pay television 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 pay television channel from the Sun TV Network in India. The target audience 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 pay television channel owned by Sun TV Network in India. It was launched on 8 February 2009.

### Sun News

Sun News is an Indian Tamil language news pay television 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 pay television channel owned by Sun TV Network, which broadcasts classic movies. It was launched in 2013.