Viacom18 launches 24x7 Hindi music channel

The channel, named MTV Beats, will focus on Bollywood and replace MTV Indies

Entertainment network Viacom18that operates channels like Colors, Vh1, Nick and MTV, announced the launch of a 24X7 music brand 'MTV BEATS'. This is the third form of brand MTV under the network after the flagship channel and MTV Indies which was launched in 2014. MTV BEATS will go on air soon the company said, and will focus on Bollywood music, long format shows and branded content.

The channel will replace MTV Indies on TV while Indies will become an exclusively digital entity under Viacom18. Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said that the effort is to redesign the youth and music portfolio to take brand MTV into sharply segmented content buckets within the genre. "We will now be offering 3 differentiated experiences from brand MTV - while the flagship channel will be focused on youth and branded content and MTV Indies will continue to cater to the indie subculture, now, on the digital platform; MTV Beats, our first 24X7 Hindi music channel, will replace MTV Indies on air, with an eye to take the MTV brand to a more mass audience," he said.

Ferzad Palia, Business Head, youth and english entertainment, Viacom18 said, "India loves its music, especially Bollywood music. With MTV BEATS, we aim to give our audience a 24x7 music companion who fulfils all their music needs through the day. This is a channel aimed at 15 - 30 year olds across urban and rural India, people who love music and often imagine their day having a sound track of sorts. To give our audience's life a unique beat, we're working on defining the week into mood based themes and curating our playlists accordingly, thereby making music viewing a more relatable experience."