Kalaignar TV,a failed effort to match Sun’s glory

The official machinery launched a government-run cable TV network,Arasu Cable TV Corporation,a relatively-low-profile-yet-high-stakes attack on the Marans aiming to cut at the roots of Sun’s monopoly. If Sumangali Cable Vision from the Sun stable ensured that the group’s channels were given priority over competitors,ACTVC aimed at reversing that.

The kazhagam moved simultaneously and opened another front with the launch of Kalaignar TV,which played on Karunanidhi’s popular sobriquet Kalaignar (artiste). This was a crafty attempt,seeking to separate Sun TV from the party and the family in the eyes of the average party worker who also formed part of Sun’s loyal viewer base over the years.

At the time of its launch in 2007 (on the birth anniversary on party founder C N Annadurai on September 15),there were many who were willing to help anyone taking on the Marans. The owners of the Raj TV group offered their know-how in launching and operating the Sun-killer channel,while a senior DMK leader suggested the task be entrusted to his brother. Both were rejected. There were also reports that a Chennai-based serial entrepreneur,who faced the wrath of the Sun Group over business deals,aided the Maran-baiters within his capacity.

In the mandatory filing at Registrar of Companies,Chennai,made during the time of the launch,Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu,mother of deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin and Azhagiri,was the primary shareholder with 60 per cent. Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi,Karunanidhi’s daughter from his other wife,owned 20 per cent.

The remaining 20 per cent was held by Kalaignar TV managing director Sharad Kumar. Kumar was a childhood friend of Kalanidhi Maran,having attended school together,and was considered instrumental in Sun Group’s success in Andhra Pradesh. They had a fallout that led him to the rival camp.

Karunanidhi’s nephew P Amirtham,former principal of the Film and Television Institute,Chennai,was made the chief financial officer. Amirtham has always been an insider for the party and the family with his blood relations with the family and also having been part of DMK official mouthpiece,Murasoli. It was later said that he also owns a significant stake (around 20 per cent) in the venture though it is not clear from whose share it was allocated.

Rama Naraynan,president of the Tamil Nadu Film Producer’s Association,was appointed the chief operating officer of the channel.

Apart from the flagship general entertainment channel,the group has widened its offering to include Seithigal,a 24-hour news channel; Isai Aruvi,a channel dedicated to songs; Sirippoli,a comedy channel; Chithiram for children; and Kalaignar Asia to cater to the strong expat Tamil community in the Southeast Asian region.

However,nearly four years after the launch and a patch-up in the family that saw ACTVC being reduced to a white elephant,it is now clear that Sun’s clout,though built on the foundations of the kazhagam,had more to it than mere political patronage. Even with the combined might of a vindictive government and angry party,Kalaignar TV has not been able to dent Sun’s stranglehold.

If anything,it freed the business-savvy Marans from the ideological compulsion of having to support the DMK even while they retained their clout within the party for their own advantage. And,with more dirt emerging on the telecom scam that connects the DMK channel to the alleged beneficiaries of the 2G spectrum sale,it has more troubles than ever.