Sun TV launches ad free movie channels
Chennai: Sun TV Network Ltd announced the start of advertisement-free action movie channels in four south Indian states on Wednesday.
The pay channels are being aired in the local languages - Sun Action in Tamil, Gemini Action in Telugu, Suriyan TV in Kannada and Surya Action in Malayalam.
“Everyone knows Sun TV is a leader in the four southern states. This is just a value addition to the other premium offerings in their bouquet,” said Shreekanth P.V.S an analyst at Mumbai-based Angel Broking.
The Chennai-based Sun TV now has 29 channels, having launched high-definition (HD) versions of its four flagship channels in December.
The advertisement-free strategy may not be permanent, given that the model has not gained traction in India, said another analyst, who didn’t want to be named because of company policy.
“For Sun TV, it is a great brand-building exercise, but whether it will always remain ad free is a question mark. The content cost for the channels will be negligible given their extensive library of 8,000 plus movies,” said the Mumbai-based analyst. “The subscription revenue would be small, but given that they have a well-established direct-to-home (DTH) platform with Sun Direct, we could see takers for this kind of offering.”
It may be difficult to get subscribers in Tamil Nadu as Sun TV is still absent from the state-run Arasu Cable, now a popular distribution medium outside Chennai. Talks are still on with the government to be included, officials said.
The state-run cable operation, which was revived four months ago by chief minister J. Jayalalithaa to curb the near monopoly enjoyed by Sun Cable Vision in Tamil Nadu, has more than 20 million connections, according to chairman K. Radhakrishnan.
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