In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Chief Financial Officer, SL Narayanan said it will be an “armageddon event” if the Information & Broadcasting Ministry decides to revoke their licences. Hinting at moving court, Narayanan added, “'If we do reach a point where something like that happens, I do believe that there are sufficient recourses for us to get protected because at the end of the day, I don’t think anybody can be condemned without giving a fair hearing.”
So why has the Home Ministry decided to “condemn” Kalanithi Maran-controlled Sun TV Network? The decision to cancel security clearances reportedly has to do with three pending criminal cases against Sun Group’s Chairman Kalanithi Maran and his brother and former union minister Dayanidhi Maran.
The CBI is investigating the Maran brothers and Sun Network in the Aircel Maxis deal, the Enforcement Directorate is probing a money laundry case and the Marans also facing an enquiry into the illegal telephone exchange run from the premises of Sun TV. All these cases date back to Dayanidhi Maran’s tenure as telecom minister between 2004 and 2007.
Born to former union minister Murasoli Maran, Dayanidhi Maran, who is also the grandnephew of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi entered the political arena in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. While older brother Kalanithi Maran chose to sit out of politics, Dayanidhi had the backing of his sibling’s Sun Network media empire. A political novice, Dayanidhi Maran defeated his AIADMK rival by a margin of 1,30,000 votes. He was inducted into the Union Cabinet as Minister for Communication and Information Technology despite the glaring conflict of interest.
“The Maran brothers were at the right place at the right time - both in terms of entrepreneurship and political leverage. One without the other wouldn’t have helped them,” says N Sathiyamoorthy, director of the Chennai Chapter of Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Before becoming one of India’s largest media conglomerates, the Sun Group had a humble beginning. With a bank loan of reportedly $86,000 Kalanithi Maran launched Sun TV, South India’s first private satellite channel in 1993 from the DMK headquarters in Chennai.
Launching with three hours of programming every day, Sun TV’s instant popularity saw the channel gradually increase the amount of programming. By January 1995, Sun TV became a 24-hour channel.
Over the years the Sun Group’s business has grown and expanded multi-fold and now consists of 33 TV channels spanning the South Indian languages, service provider Sun Direct DTH, 45 FM radio stations, 2 newspapers, 5 magazines and an IPL franchise – Sunrisers Hyderabad.
But can the Sun Group’s success be attributed to the political clout that the Marans enjoyed, especially when the DMK was in power both at the Centre and at the state? While Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK government was in power in Tamil Nadu when Sun TV launched, the DMK took over the reins of the state in 1996. At the Centre, the DMK was part of the United Front governments between 1996 and 1998 under prime ministers HD Deva Gowda and IK Gujral.
The DMK was a party to the NDA government between 1999 and 2004, with father Murasoli Maran being the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry until his death in 2003. The Dravidian party then switched loyalties to the Congress and was an alliance partner in the UPA.
“Things seem to have worked in their favour especially in terms of government clearances,” says political commentator Sathiyamoorthy. But given that the Sun TV Network was present across the southern states he notes, “You have to remember that the Sun TV group in its various avatars and various south Indian languages was a pioneer of sorts.”
Media analyst Badri Seshadri explains how the Marans used their political leverage in the state and at the Centre to unfair playing field for rival channels. “They nicely gamed the system to get the most. They made sure that serious competitors never got an inch in the Tamil TV space. For a long time no one could get a news licence for a Tamil channel. On the cable distribution front, thugs were deployed to cut rival's cables. Competing channels found themselves off the air in the Sun controlled Sumangali cable vision or were asked to pay exorbitant carriage fees,” he says.
The Marans have, however, had their fair share of hurdles. Dayanidhi was forced to step down from his Cabinet position following the controversial survey published in 2007 by Kalanithi Maran’s Tamil newspaper Dinakaran suggesting that Karunanidhi’s younger son MK Stalin was the preferred successor to lead the DMK over MK Alagiri. The family feud forced the DMK to break the TV and distribution monopoly of the Marans by launching its own channel – Kaliagnar TV and a government-controlled cable company –Arasu cable.
Although, the Marans were brought back into the DMK fold shortly ahead of the 2009 general elections, Dayanidhi’s power weakened in the party following the family feud. With party colleague A Raja taking control of the telecom portfolio, Maran was handed the Textile Ministry in 2009.
But two years into his second term as a union minister, Dayanidhi was forced to resign once again – this time over his alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam. With corruption and the 2G scam fresh on people’s minds, the DMK was routed in the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Dayanidhi Maran, a two-time MP from Chennai Central lost to the AIADMK.
While Dayanidhi Maran’s alleged sins have caught up with him on the political field, will these criminal cases be the beginning of the end to the Sun Group? Is the sun setting on the Maran Empire? Experts say it is too early to predict the future of the Sun Group based on the Home Ministry’s decision to cancel security licences.
“It may not be possible in India to completely shut out an entity like the Sun group, just like that. I think Kalanithi Maran will fight it out. I expect him to move the courts and the courts to give him at least temporary relief,” states Badri Seshadri. To predict the downfall of Kalanithi Maran and his vast media empire would be reckless and foolish. After all, as in politics, comebacks are everything.About the AuthorAnna Isaac Principal Correspondent, Chennai...Read Morefirst published:June 11, 2015, 13:57 ISTlast updated:June 11, 2015, 16:00 IST
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Chennai: Is the sun setting on the Maran empire? This was the inevitable question floating in the minds of many as news spread that the Home Ministry had denied security clearance to 33 television channels belonging to the Sun TV Network. With a reach of more than 95 million households, one of India’s largest media groups faces the threat of going off air if its broadcasting licences are cancelled.
In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Chief Financial Officer, SL Narayanan said it will be an “armageddon event” if the Information & Broadcasting Ministry decides to revoke their licences. Hinting at moving court, Narayanan added, “'If we do reach a point where something like that happens, I do believe that there are sufficient recourses for us to get protected because at the end of the day, I don’t think anybody can be condemned without giving a fair hearing.”
So why has the Home Ministry decided to “condemn” Kalanithi Maran-controlled Sun TV Network? The decision to cancel security clearances reportedly has to do with three pending criminal cases against Sun Group’s Chairman Kalanithi Maran and his brother and former union minister Dayanidhi Maran.
The CBI is investigating the Maran brothers and Sun Network in the Aircel Maxis deal, the Enforcement Directorate is probing a money laundry case and the Marans also facing an enquiry into the illegal telephone exchange run from the premises of Sun TV. All these cases date back to Dayanidhi Maran’s tenure as telecom minister between 2004 and 2007.
Born to former union minister Murasoli Maran, Dayanidhi Maran, who is also the grandnephew of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi entered the political arena in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. While older brother Kalanithi Maran chose to sit out of politics, Dayanidhi had the backing of his sibling’s Sun Network media empire. A political novice, Dayanidhi Maran defeated his AIADMK rival by a margin of 1,30,000 votes. He was inducted into the Union Cabinet as Minister for Communication and Information Technology despite the glaring conflict of interest.
“The Maran brothers were at the right place at the right time - both in terms of entrepreneurship and political leverage. One without the other wouldn’t have helped them,” says N Sathiyamoorthy, director of the Chennai Chapter of Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Before becoming one of India’s largest media conglomerates, the Sun Group had a humble beginning. With a bank loan of reportedly $86,000 Kalanithi Maran launched Sun TV, South India’s first private satellite channel in 1993 from the DMK headquarters in Chennai.
Launching with three hours of programming every day, Sun TV’s instant popularity saw the channel gradually increase the amount of programming. By January 1995, Sun TV became a 24-hour channel.
Over the years the Sun Group’s business has grown and expanded multi-fold and now consists of 33 TV channels spanning the South Indian languages, service provider Sun Direct DTH, 45 FM radio stations, 2 newspapers, 5 magazines and an IPL franchise – Sunrisers Hyderabad.
But can the Sun Group’s success be attributed to the political clout that the Marans enjoyed, especially when the DMK was in power both at the Centre and at the state? While Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK government was in power in Tamil Nadu when Sun TV launched, the DMK took over the reins of the state in 1996. At the Centre, the DMK was part of the United Front governments between 1996 and 1998 under prime ministers HD Deva Gowda and IK Gujral.
The DMK was a party to the NDA government between 1999 and 2004, with father Murasoli Maran being the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry until his death in 2003. The Dravidian party then switched loyalties to the Congress and was an alliance partner in the UPA.
“Things seem to have worked in their favour especially in terms of government clearances,” says political commentator Sathiyamoorthy. But given that the Sun TV Network was present across the southern states he notes, “You have to remember that the Sun TV group in its various avatars and various south Indian languages was a pioneer of sorts.”
Media analyst Badri Seshadri explains how the Marans used their political leverage in the state and at the Centre to unfair playing field for rival channels. “They nicely gamed the system to get the most. They made sure that serious competitors never got an inch in the Tamil TV space. For a long time no one could get a news licence for a Tamil channel. On the cable distribution front, thugs were deployed to cut rival's cables. Competing channels found themselves off the air in the Sun controlled Sumangali cable vision or were asked to pay exorbitant carriage fees,” he says.
The Marans have, however, had their fair share of hurdles. Dayanidhi was forced to step down from his Cabinet position following the controversial survey published in 2007 by Kalanithi Maran’s Tamil newspaper Dinakaran suggesting that Karunanidhi’s younger son MK Stalin was the preferred successor to lead the DMK over MK Alagiri. The family feud forced the DMK to break the TV and distribution monopoly of the Marans by launching its own channel – Kaliagnar TV and a government-controlled cable company –Arasu cable.
Although, the Marans were brought back into the DMK fold shortly ahead of the 2009 general elections, Dayanidhi’s power weakened in the party following the family feud. With party colleague A Raja taking control of the telecom portfolio, Maran was handed the Textile Ministry in 2009.
But two years into his second term as a union minister, Dayanidhi was forced to resign once again – this time over his alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam. With corruption and the 2G scam fresh on people’s minds, the DMK was routed in the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Dayanidhi Maran, a two-time MP from Chennai Central lost to the AIADMK.
While Dayanidhi Maran’s alleged sins have caught up with him on the political field, will these criminal cases be the beginning of the end to the Sun Group? Is the sun setting on the Maran Empire? Experts say it is too early to predict the future of the Sun Group based on the Home Ministry’s decision to cancel security licences.
“It may not be possible in India to completely shut out an entity like the Sun group, just like that. I think Kalanithi Maran will fight it out. I expect him to move the courts and the courts to give him at least temporary relief,” states Badri Seshadri. To predict the downfall of Kalanithi Maran and his vast media empire would be reckless and foolish. After all, as in politics, comebacks are everything.
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