MUMBAI: Just after two months of launching its Punjabi music channel 9X Tashan, 9X Media, the company controlled by private equity firm New Silk Route, is launching its 24-hour Marathi music channel.

9X Jhakaas, with a tagline of ?Aai Shapaath? will launch on 31 October and will be the first Marathi music channel.

The Marathi television advertising market is around Rs 5 billion plus, with three general entertainment channels (Zee Marathi, ETV Marathi and Star Pravah), one dedicated movie channel (Zee Talkies) and three news channels (Zee 24 Taas, Star Majha and Ibn Lokmat), grappling for a piece of the pie. Other players in the fray include Saam Marathi, DD Marathi and Mi Marathi.

Industry sources say that 9X Media is spending heavily on distribution as Maharashtra is a priority state for advertisers as well as media planners. "Maharashtra is a P1 and very ad friendly market. If 9X Jhakaas manages to copy the success of its Punjabi and Hindi channels, it may have a bright future. The channel is definitely going to get a first-mover advantage here," a senior media planner said.

He added that the new offfering looks "rich" and "full of Marathi heritage" from the promos that he has seen.

Sources claim that unlike the Punjabi market, where 9X Tashan had spent Rs 60 million on distribution, for 9X Jhakaas, the channel will have to spend double. "Punjab has only two major MSOs, while in Maharashtra, which is a big TAM market there are 20-25 MSOs. For a good placement, 9X Jhakaas will have to spend at least Rs 100-120 million on distribution on the state," a source in the cable industry said.

On the content side, like in the Punjabi channel, 9X Jhakaas will have Marathi film and non-film music videos, including folk, popular and contemporary.

The channel will also be streamed live online on the channel?s website, www.9xjhakaas.in, and to mobile phones.
Indiantelevision.com had first reported that 9X Media would be launching two channels by year end. The company was earlier planning a Punjabi and a Bengali channel, but changed its plans and is launching the Marathi channel instead.

Similar to the Punjabi channel, 9X Jhakaas will also air a series of humorous animated shows and shorts presented by animated characters speaking in Marathi. The channel will see a new set of characters apart from 9XM?s popular Bade-Chote.

The Punjabi music channel was launched on 31 August.