Viacom18 to launch 24×7 Bollywood music channel, ‘MTV Beats’

By A Correspondent

Viacom18 has announced a 24×7 music channel to be called ‘MTV Beats’. Elaborating on the portfolio redesign, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said, “MTV initiated India into the experience of pop culture, making it a socially and commercially successful phenomenon. Today the brand is synonymous with being reflective of the country’s youth – their preferences, beliefs, opinions, desires et al. This presents us with the unique opportunity to redesign our Youth and Music portfolio to take brand MTV into sharply segmented content buckets within the genre. We will now be offering three differentiated experiences from brand MTV – while the flagship channel will be focused on youth and branded content and MTV Indies will continue to cater to the indie subculture, now, on the digital platform; MTV Beats, our first 24×7 Hindi music channel, will replace MTV Indies on air, with an eye to take the MTV brand to a more mass audience.”

Giving a deeper insight into MTV Beats, Ferzad Palia, Business Head, Youth and English Entertainment, Viacom18 said, “With MTV BEATS, we aim to give our audience a 24×7 music companion who fulfils all their music needs through the day.”