MTunes innovates on 'video exclusivity' to create differentiation

The channel has partnered with various music companies, wherein it will have the exclusive rights to air the making of forthcoming 'movie chartbusters' seven days prior to the official video release of the songs on other broadcasting networks.

MTunes HD innovates on 'video exclusivity' to create differentiation

With nothing much to distinguish it, the Hindi music genre has been fighting hard to differentiate its content for quite some time now. If Sony Mix took on the idea of mood mapping to differentiate itself, 9X launched Jalwa to showcase only old melodies. Now, MTunes HD, positioned as a Bollywood music channel in HD, has opted for the 'video exclusivity route' to differentiate from the herd.

The channel has partnered with various music companies for exclusive rights to air the making of the forthcoming 'movie chartbusters' seven days prior to the official video release of the songs on other broadcasting networks. The format will be showcased under the banner, Kal ka Super Hits (super hits of tomorrow).

To begin with, MTunes has partnered with T-Series and Sony Music. The channel is also in talks with various other music labels, although it refused to declare their names at the time of filing this report.

Talking about the concept, Cyril D, programming head, MTunes HD, informs afaqs!, "With this format, we intend to showcase songs as fast as a radio station does, giving the audience hits before even the video is released. Also, with this, MTunes HD viewers will get to witness the fun and candidness that goes into creating the music video, along with the music track itself." This in turn will help increase the stickiness and time spent on the channel.

For the record, players within the Hindi music genre are eyeing an ad pie worth Rs 3.5-4 billion yearly, wherein the overall genre GRPs range between 200-240 GRPs (gross rating points) per week. Also, with the advent of new players, the viewership of the genre has increased, although the audience share for each player within the genre has fragmented further.

Interestingly, media experts note that the duration of film songs aired across channels from the genre has been increasing over the years, while the telecast of reality shows has been showing a declining ROI. And, while the core audience still remains the younger age segment of 15-24 years, the higher SEC groups indicate decline.