MUMBAI: After gaining widespread popularity across the web with around 300mn views, Korean pop sensation Psy’s Gangnam style video has made its debut on Indian television with Mtunes HD show ‘AlterNative’.

‘AlterNative’, the channel’s property dedicated to popular music outside of Bollywood, will feature the current viral sensation ‘Gangnam Style’ segment in association with Universal Music. The channel is making the common man in India do the Gangnam Style, randomly picking up people from the crowd and making them do the dance. A compilation of this would be played at the end of the music video in the section titled ‘On The Streets’.

‘Oppa Gangnam Style’ (loosely translated as I live Gangnam Style) is Psy’s satire on the posh lifestyle in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea, where people are trendy, hip and exude a certain ‘supposed’ class. It is the humour and the fun dance style that has caught the interest of people worldwide.

Speaking about the initiative with Radioandmusic.com, MTunes HD group creative director Sunil Sahjwani said, “It’s a very aptly named show since we have bollywood music all over now. The Gangnam style got popular across the globe and we have brought it to the Indian tv set mixing it with the local flavour by showcasing how people here groove to international music. This is doing it the Indian style. We feel that there is a substantial market for such initiatives and thus have gone ahead with it, but it remains to be seen if it will last in the long run. We are just sampling the audience palette now.”

The video has been launched in association with Universal Music who aims to expand this property with a whole new repertoire of artistes from across the globe. The show will feature various artistes with their styles like rapper Honey Singh and Jugni amongst others every week.

“Right now we are just having a week of sampling and after that we will be working out a deal with Universal Music who can provide us with a vast range of international artistes considering their repertoire,” he added.

With digital complementing television, the channel is now focusing more towards shorter format shows and is re-inventing their packaging around it. Commemorating the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, MTunes will air small messages comprising some of his most famous quotes every hour throughout the day.

Sahjwani affirmed, “We are currently focusing more on shorter format shows as the attention span of our target group, that is the youth, is very limited. It is very difficult to capture their attention and I feel such shows work well in this case. We will be going into longer format shows as well but at a later stage.”

The music channel has already started re-structuring its programming with popular shows ‘Asli Voice’ and ‘Star Specials’ being revamped,  and is all geared up to unveil around eight new properties this festive season.