 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Satellite television |
| Founded | August 26, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-08-26) ) |
| Headquarters | 73, MRC Nagar Main Road, MRC Nagar,Chennai, India |
Area served | India |
Key people | Kalanithi Maran (Chairman) |
| Products | Satellite television,pay television,pay-per-view |
| Revenue |  ₹1,845 crore (US$220 million) (FY 2021)[1] |
| ₹738 crore (US$87 million) (FY 2021)[1] | |
| Owners |
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| Website | www |
Sun Direct is an Indiansubscription basedsatellite television service provider, owned bySun Group. It was launched in December 2007.[2] It transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in India. Sun Direct usesMPEG-4 digital compression, transmitting HD Channels and SD Channels onMEASAT-3 at 91.5°E.[3]
Sun Direct is a joint venture between theAstro Group ofMalaysia and theSUN Group of India. Sun Group entered into an MoU with the Astro group on 27 January 1997, whenAircel was not in existence. But, since the government of India did not allow the use of KU bandtransponders for DTH services, the project was put on hold, the firm said in a statement. After the DTH policy was announced by the government in December 2007, Astro picked up a 20% stake in Sun Direct TV. The stake was valued at approximately $115 million.[4] Sun Direct TV was registered on 16 February 2005.[5] However, the failed launch of Sun DirectINSAT 4C resulted in Sun Direct's lack of transponders, delaying the launch.[6] The service was finally launched on 18 January 2008, after availability of transponders fromIndian National Satellite System.[7]
In December 2009, Sun Direct was launched inMumbai, the country's financial capital, and announced its pan- India launch. By 2009 it became the leading DTH provider with 3 million subscribers.[8]
On 7 July 2010, a power glitch in theIndian National Satellite System[9][10] satellite turned down the DTH system partly and SUN Direct announced that the service would be free till all the services were restored. Partial service was restored onIndian National Satellite System Sun Direct with 193 channels. Meanwhile, SUN Direct is now transmitting 173 channels onMEASAT-3 for an uninterrupted transition of Sun Direct customers from theIndian National Satellite System at 93.5°E.[11] toMEASAT-3 at 91.5°E.[12]
As of 2017, Sun Direct uses eight transponders equally split betweenMEASAT-3 and GSAT-15, with three being added in that year itself. HD channels are being beamed from the four transponders on GSAT-15.[13][14]
In 2023, the company announced the forthcoming launch of Sun Direct GO, asubscriptionvideo-on-demand andover-the-topstreaming service.[15] The platform was expected to offer a variety of content, including movies, TV shows, web series, live TV channels, and original content.[16]
In FY17, Sun Direct added three transponders on GSAT 15. It has a total of eight transponders, equally split between Measat 3 and GSAT 15.
At present, it is beaming its HD channels from four transponders located on ISRO's newly launched GSAT-15 satellite.