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MUMBAI:
INX Media's satellite-delivered music channel 9XM, which last month
reached out to an additional six million subscribers across India
with a distribution deal on government-owned Direct-To-Home platform
DD Direct Plus, has established an unprecedented leadership position
in only three months since its launch in October 2007.
 According
to industry figures just released for the key Indian youth demographic
of 15-24 year-olds, the channel - which takes an entirely fresh
approach to presenting music - has achieved a more than two-fold
audience share lead over Viacom's global youth music brand MTV,
and an audience share in excess of seven times that of News Corporation's
STAR TV music platform Channel [V], both of which have been active
in the sub-continent for over ten years (see chart below).
"9XM has filled a void in the music television space. It has
created a distinctive new space in music and entertainment that
targets the needs and attitudes of youth, and not just the demographics,"
said Anthony Pettifer, Group Director, Brand and Communication,
INX Media. "That's why we've seen the channel being watched
not only at home, but in canteens, colleges, bars, shopping malls,
gyms, coffee bars and eateries. We've even seen it being played
in streets outside McDonald's restaurants."
 9XM's
revolutionary presentation features only full-length, current hit
Bollywood songs on a screen shared with irreverent graphics, animated
characters and interactive viewer feedback. The channel in effect
has created a new genre - non-stop Bollywood Music Entertainment
- and packaged it in a uniquely youthful style. As a result it has
also overtaken the audience share of the leading youth-oriented
general entertainment channels in India and a number of niche players
in other genres (see chart below).
Audience
interactivity with the channel begins with on-screen SMS messaging
via live quizzes and contests. "SMS traffic to the channel
is averaging 25,000 messages each day", says Pettifer. "This
high level of interactivity has also contributed to the channel
taking on a life of its own on the Internet, with 9XM and its characters
being adopted by numerous Orkut and other user-generated online
communities," Pettifer added.
9XM's
avant-garde audiovisual experience (see screenshot below) features
no VJ's, no interviews, no news and no hype about itself. The animated
characters who act as the channel's "spokespeople" provide
a stream of humorous interjections and asides that are fast becoming
part of youth culture.
"Each
song that makes it onto the 9XM playlist is there as the result
of a thorough research process," said Vikas Varma, Head, Music
Entertainment Channels at INX Media. "We sustain momentum through
a continuous and live process of improvisation and animation to
ensure that each song is never presented in the same way twice.
We have created a space which has made Hindi music very cool to
watch and listen to - the high ratings are proof of that,"
Verma added.
Advertising
partners have a range of options, from traditional spot buys to
messages and brand imagery that are carefully integrated into the
on-screen experience.
Having
established an unprecedented following among viewers since its launch,
Pettifer is confident of continued growth. "The audience figures
show that we've got our positioning right from the start.
We have deliberately not used conventional marketing to promote
the channel and the 9XM brand. Instead we have let people discover
it for themselves and this strategy clearly works," he concluded.
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