Music talk show on news genre

Aaj Tak will launch the show hosted by Mala Sekhri, COO, lifestyle magazines and Music Today.

Hindi news channel Aaj Tak has announced that it will launch a show dedicated to music. Christened Sureeli Baat, the show is woven around the stalwarts of the music industry in India and will feature singers and musicians from the fraternity across the country, including Kailash Kher, Shaan, Sukhwinder Singh, KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Usha Uthup, Jasbir Jassi and Amit Kumar.

In a one-to-one interaction with the host, Mala Sekhri, COO, lifestyle magazines and Music Today, the stars are expected to reveal some unknown facts about their respective journeys to fame. The show will also use earlier footage from different stages of the stars. It targets audiences above 15 years of age in Hindi speaking markets.

While there are about 10 music and youth channels in India, the treatment of the show is expected to be very different from those on the music channels. Being a news channel, Aaj Tak is set to give it a news-like treatment. Sureeli Baat is set to give trivia and an interesting look at the lives of the stars and the news genre has a better credibility than other genres.

Supriya Prasad, managing editor, Aaj Tak says, "The content of the show will be more interesting as these singers will not only talk about their own musical inspirations and influences in life but also sing melodies which are a big part of their musical memories. Hindi news channels enjoy a good reach and the show has been designed in a manner to entertain the audience."

At the same time, the channel hopes to get new advertisers that look at a broader TG, and have restricted their spends to GECs.

The show will feature Sukhwinder Singh (of Chhaiya Chhaiya fame) in its first episode. While currently the stars that the channel has finalised are all popular and from the mainstream music industry, will there be any regional successes (in the music genre) on the show?

Vivek Malhotra, vice-president, marketing and strategic planning and research, TV Today Network, explains, "We are a channel that has a national presence and we are looking to invite artistes who have a pan India presence. Though the stars currently finalised are all into mainstream music, the decision to invite regional music personalities will depend on how the show goes."

The show will be telecast on Saturdays at 8 pm and the repeats will run on Sundays at 10 pm.