"The Hindi music genre needs to increase ad-rates collectively by 30-40 per cent": Neeraj Vyas

As Sony Mix tops the genre for about 10 consecutive weeks, afaqs! spoke to Neeraj Vyas, EVP and business head of the channel.

Compare this to the previous positions, until Week 48 of 2013, the average of 10 weeks' ratings saw 9XM at the first position, followed by Sony Mix and Mastii. Mastii is a Hindi music channel from Sri Adhikari Brothers and has been one of the most popular music channels in the country.

The other rankings and ratings of the genre remain more or less the same. The other players in the genre include 9X Jalwa (from 9X Media), B4U Musice, M Tunes HD, Music India, Music Express and Zing.

afaqs! spoke to Neeraj Vyas, EVP and business head, Sony Mix on the channel's performance. Vyas is of the opinion that the channel has gained on account of being honest to the commitment of music. "The musicality of the channel was never lost, despite competition and pressure within the genre. We haven't diluted it with animation, hosting, movies or any other talk. I think that effort has been noticed by the viewers."

Digitisation has also helped the channel, say experts, since it gave it the shelf space and hence ensured sampling. The channel hasn't initiated any brand integration. Vyas suggests that it was never a focus area for the channel. The only revenue streams that the channel has are spot buys and distribution.

He adds, "Currently the channel has about 20-25 per cent lead with the competition, with a reach of about 50-55 million."

It is obvious that with the change in rankings, the channel is in a position to command higher ad-rates. Vyas adds, "The genre has been commoditised. It is an amazing reach and frequency builder and it's high time we (the genre) got paid for it. Considering inventory cap, correction is necessary. I believe that the effort to increase ad-rates should be collective by the genre. The complete genre is highly underpaid and it needs to hike rates by 30-40 per cent."

As for promotions, the channel wants to wait and stabilise its leadership position. Later, the bandwidth of the Multi Screen Media network will be used to promote the performance, along with high decibel properties like Indian Premier League, movie premiers and reality shows.

The on-ground promotions will be mostly specific to UP, MP and Maharashtra. Digitisation has definitely helped the channel to get shelf space and hence, to be sampled. About 200 songs are played on the channel every day.