Aidem Ventures to sell airtime for Channel UFX

The multi-lingual channel telecasts youth centric content in all the four southern languages.

Channel UFX, the youth entertainment and music multi-lingual channel catering to the South market, has commissioned its advertising sales duties to Aidem Ventures. The ad-sales company has partnered with more than 20 channels.

Belonging to the UF Group, Channel UFX is a youth entertainment channel that offers programming ranging from international to Bollywood and even South Indian music. Other parts of the content line-up include lifestyle, travel, fitness and cuisine that subtly cater to the preferences of the South Indian youth.

As of today, the channel reaches out to 95 per cent of Tamil Nadu. It is available on four out of the six key DAS operators in Chennai. Outside Chennai, Channel UFX is available on Arasu Cable. In Kerala, it is available on KCCL, which covers 60 per cent of the market. In Karnataka, the channel is available to two major networks, DEN Network and All Digital. As for Andhra Pradesh, the channel is currently available in Vishakhapatnam and will soon be distributed across the state.

In an official communiqué, Usman Faheed, managing director, Channel UFX, says, "The Aidem team possesses a great amount of expertise in every business facet, be it developing the right positioning and pricing strategies for the media, developing sponsorship packages, identifying all possible revenue streams to going out and generating revenues. From news and infotainment to movies, general entertainment and music, they are a large team of people who are media as well as genre special."

The channel was not being monitored by TAM until a few weeks ago. Aidem will offer solutions to national advertisers including the ones from southern states and the regional advertisers will be addressed by a separate team.

Vikas Khanchandani, director, Aidem Ventures opines that the channel will have a large base of national advertisers and offer brand solutions and integration opportunities. The percentage for regional advertising varies from 10 per cent to as high as 40 per cent, depending on the genre.

It is learnt that the four southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh contribute about 25 per cent to the total advertising pie of the television business.

Khanchandani further adds, "The channel is fundamentally a premium youth platform with content designed to reach the target audience from all southern states. Each of these southern markets has a very robust advertising market and there isn't a similar offering currently within television. In my opinion, sales will not be a problem rather from our initial discussions with clients and agencies the feedback has been very positive."

"Considering South India is the most literate zone in the country, Channel UFX is an exciting and vibrant option for brands looking at targeting the 15-34 year age group," says Nikhil Sheth, business head, Hindi entertainment and niche channels, Aidem Ventures.

Aidem is also the exclusive media representative for Mi Marathi, Live India, Sahara One, Sahara Filmy, Microsoft, Economist.com, KBS World, Al Jazeera English (AJE) and other Al Jazeera channels, CIRA Media Network, Jai Maharashtra, Get Punjabi, Jaya TV Network, Enter10 TV Network, Shagun TV, Lakshyya Entertainment, InSync and ABN Andhrajyothy.

About the youth genre in the southern markets, Khanchandani explains, "It's a space that was waiting to be filled up when 2/3rd of the country is below the age group of 35 years. So when you take that into consideration, it's surprising that there isn't a single youth based channel in the South which communicates with them in the language which youth in urban states are most comfortable: English. We are extremely confident that UFX will have many takers amongst both viewers and advertisers."

For the record, internationally, Channel UFX has been made available on E-Vision recently, covering all of West Asia. The channel claims to be recording a good amount of online viewership by viewers in the US and the UK as well.