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Sriram Srinivasan

Chennai , Aug. 2

SOUTHERN Spice Music has launched a voice hunt in the South, an event which will also translate into its "first big reality show" on television, and is all set to tweak its programming to include more Tamil, Telugu and international music.

The voice hunt, auditions for which kicked off in Chennai last week, will be conducted in five centres — Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi and Coimbatore, apart from the city, said Mr Bryan Oliver Peppin, Head of Programming and Production, SS Music.

The event will be called Fanta Voice Hunt; apart from the soft-drinks brand, SS Music has been able to rope in Lawman jeans and Heads & Shoulders, among a host of other sponsors. The marketing spends have been pegged at Rs 75 lakh.

At the end of the month-long hunt, the channel expects to select four individuals based on their "voice, looks, attitude and enthusiasm," who will then participate in a 10-15-day workshop, which will be televised. The channel's viewers will be in a position to vote for their favourite artiste online or through SMS.

The four will come together for a video album, which will be marketed by Sony Music. But even before the album is ready, SS Music will start airing half-an-hour episodes every week, starting with footage on the workshop. Mr Peppin said he expected the series, which will run for 20 weeks, to rake in higher television rating points than the regular music content that the channel churns out.

Although Karnataka is the channel's biggest market in terms of viewership, he said viewers seem to be less inclined toward Kannada music. So, the channel is planning to cut down on it and accommodate more Tamil, Telugu and international music. The last category, particularly, will help the channel in a market like Chennai, where a majority of cable and satellite homes doesn't have access to MTV and Channel V, as the conditional access system is operational here.

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