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Sriram Srinivasan

Chennai , May 27

NOTWITHSTANDING the low viewership for music channels now, MTV India says the genre is set to boom in the next two to three years, and that it wants to be at the forefront.

Mr Alex Kuruvilla, MTV India's Managing Director, said the music genre would take off with the introduction of more channels, much like what happened to the news and kids segments.

The kids' space, for instance, serviced by seven players, now accounts for nearly 9 per cent of the viewership.

The share was only 5.5 per cent two years ago when there were only three channels, according to a recent study.

Amid growth-stifling factors such as single TV households and fragmentation, music TV channels have held on to their shares over the years, he said.

Music channels, according to an industry estimate, account for just about 2 per cent of the total viewership.

The network is optimistic that interest in international music will grow because of VH1, which was launched recently as its second music channel in India. VH1, which will have the benefit of a huge content library from its US counterpart, will be free-to-air in Chennai although it will be `pay' elsewhere.

Mr Kuruvilla said Delhi and Mumbai will be VH1's biggest markets, but the South too has a big audience, as well as key advertisers.

The channel is already available in 10 million homes, and the network has a target of 15 million by this year-end.

VH1's content includes music videos, covering genres such as pure rock and pop, and lifestyle shows.

MTV Networks, said Mr Kuruvilla, is set to launch MTV Desi, a channel targeted at US viewers of South Asian origin, in July.

"The programming mix is still being worked out."

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