MUMBAI: Radio Mirchi has partnered with MTV for the second season of its show Stunt Mania which will host a series of rock shows titled 'Rockathon' combining music and biking stunts. The two entities together will hunt for a local bund in the cities of Kolkata, Delhi, Pune and Chennai.

The shortlisted band shall get an opportunity to perform along with established acts like Parikrama, Circus, Bandish, Rickterscale and few others during the Rockathon show. In future these bands shall also get an opportunity to come on MTV's talent hunt show 'Rock On'. They will be allowed to skip the audition round and head straight for the competition  

Talking about the initiative with MTV Radio Mirchi EVP corporate and strategy Sujata Bhatt says, "One of our initiatives towards building our music franchise is to identify and nurture local musical talent. In this connection, Radio Mirchi has tied up with MTV to bring the biggest rock festival to your city through Rockathon – the hunt for the best local band."

The band hunt will be conducted in 4 cities across India – Delhi, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata. The bands can register for the audition by sending vote (space) rock (space) band name to 58888. The shortlisted bands will get an opportunity to perform with bands like Parikrama, Circus, Bandish, Rickterscale etc.

Delhi is already through with its auditions and Nasha- a sufi rock band has been selected from the capital.

Talking about the marketing and promotion strategy of the show Bhatt adds, "This band hunt has a strong on-ground element viz. the rock concert. In addition, we will use the power of radio to audition the bands. In addition, MTV will promote the activity extensively on radio."

The winning band will also get a chance to go on-air with Mirchi through its various programming initiatives.

Talking the leverage that the station gains from such associations Bhatt explains, "Mirchi is synonymous with Music – in all its avatars. In addition, being a radio network, for the listener, Mirchi is synonymous with the cityscape. What better way to marry the two than events of this nature. It is very much in synch with what we as a brand believe in and show evidence of through our multifarious activities around the music platform."