An Indian media empire grew from a Tamil news magazine sold on videotape
In 1990 Kalanithi Maran launched Poomaalai, a monthly Tamil news magazine distributed on VHS cassettes. Three years later he started Sun TV in Chennai. Today his Sun Group spans dozens of television channels, radio, newspapers, films and streaming, plus cricket teams in India, South Africa and England.
Sun TV, the group's flagship, went on air on 14 April 1993; its shares began trading in Bombay on 24 April 2006 after it raised $133 million. The network now runs 37 channels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, and has pushed beyond the south with channels in Bengali and, from 17 October 2021, Marathi. Its satellite service, Sun Direct, launched in December 2007, ranked fourth among India's direct-to-home providers by March 2015 while leading the southern market. Radio stations broadcast under names including Red FM and Suryan FM.
Print and film round out the business. The group bought Dinakaran, a Tamil daily founded in 1977 by K. P. Kandasamy, in 2005, and by 2010 it had the second-largest circulation of any Tamil daily after Dina Thanthi; an evening paper, Tamil Murasu, and magazines such as Kungumam sit alongside it. Sun Pictures, set up in 2000, produced the Rajinikanth film Endhiran and has distributed more than 20 Tamil films. The streaming service Sun NXT, started in June 2017, carries more than 4,000 films, including Rajinikanth's Petta and Vijay's Sarkar.
Sport became a big part of the brand after Maran bought the Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad in October 2012. The name has since spread to Sunrisers Eastern Cape in South Africa's SA20 league and Sunrisers Leeds in The Hundred. Daniel Vettori coaches the Hyderabad team, with Pat Cummins as captain.
Not every venture paid off. In June 2010 the group took a 37.7 percent stake in the budget airline SpiceJet, and despite losses Maran put another ₹1 billion into it in 2012. In January 2015 the group sold its entire holding back to the airline's founder, Ajay Singh, and handed over control. In 2018 it gave ₹2 crore toward cyclone relief in Tamil Nadu.
Source: Sun Group
