By adding new channels and offering HD capabilities on existing ones, India’s satellite TV majors are aiming to get a better lock on to their viewership numbers in the Gulf. By doing so, the broadcasters hope to tap into an advertising market that is estimated at $30 million (Dh110 million) to $35 million and, more importantly, growing at a fairly healthy 5 to 10 per cent.
IndiaCast, a joint venture between Viacom18 and TV18, has just launched MTV India, the Indian version of the popular youth-centred music channel on its Middle East beam. This is the second launch from the IndiaCast stable after Colors — the Hindi entertainment channel behind the popular ‘Bigg Boss’ reality shows — in September 2010. Having got some traction going in the Gulf markets, the company now plans to get more active with new channel launches, though no specific names were mentioned.
As for MTV India’s prospects in the UAE and Gulf, Gaurav Gandhi, chief operating officer at IndiaCast, “While MTV as a brand can mean multiple things to multiple people, we feel it will soon have an extreme connect with viewers here based on the programming content which obviously includes a sizable Bollywood-specific material. And these days Bollywood content appeals to an audience beyond South Asians.”
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