MUMBAI: More music, a mood-based daypart strategy and a focused distribution is Sony's gameplan as it launches its music channel in a crowded marketplace that is struggling to grow audiences as well as revenue.

For Multi Screen Media (MSM), the launch of Mix on 1 September comes after a gap of five years (English movie channel Pix was launched in 2006).

MSM COO NP Singh said, "A music channel is the natural progression for Sony as we now have two strong Hindi GECs in the network."

To break the clutter, Mix will tap into older audiences in the morning and late night hours while sticking to the core youth viewers that advertisers look for in music channels. The channel will have 30 per cent of its content targeted at the 24-44-year-olds.

"Though music channels are predominantly youth focused, there is a secondary TG of 25-44 years that is largely underserved. We will have 30 per cent of our content for the secondary TG. We have cleverly divided the content in different day parts and will serve music which will enhance the mood of the hour," Singh averred.

Armed with a music library of over 3000 tracks, Mix plans to play three times the music that other channels do. "On an average, other music channels play around 250 songs per month. We will play 750 songs. Our content is much more than what others play or show," Mix EVP and business head Neeraj Vyas said.

Mix's challenge is to increase the time spent on music channels. "Time spent on music channels at present is abysmally low, around 25 minutes per week. We intend to grow it with our content," Vyas said.

On the distribution front, MSM will focus heavily on markets like Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat from where it expects more stickiness to come.

Vyas said, "Among the HSM also, we are following a different distribution and promotion strategy. More focus will be on

Maharashtra, MP and Gujarat, which will increase the time spent on our channel. Though Delhi is a big Tam market, in terms of time spent it is very low. Similarly, West Bengal and Punjab are not our focus."

Mix, which comes with a tagline of Dekho, Suno, Gungunao (watch, listen, hum), has chalked out a theme-based scheduling strategy to suit the need of the hour.

The channel will have different time bands playing out to the different moods. Its aim: to encourage appointment viewing, something which music channels have not been able to address. Mix VP and head programming Alleyah Asgghar said, "It is all about scheduling the content. Many channels put random playlist of songs where viewers lose interests if the tone of the music suddenly changes. No one likes a Sheela Ki jawani at 7 am in the morning."

Mix will air Arziyan, a segment on devotional music, every morning at the 7-8 am time band, followed by Surili Subah (8 am to 12 noon, Monday - Friday).

On weekdays, the 12-3 pm slot is given to Ishq Vishq, a segment that will target housewives with love songs. The 3-6 pm band will be Mix Adda, playing more contemporary music, while 6-8 pm will be Mix Music Madness, airing peppy numbers.

The channel is also getting back the format of weekly countdown, which will be aired every Friday at 8-9 pm under the segment Badmash 20.

From 10 pm till midnight, Mix will play old songs in the show Raina Beeti Jaye.

In the special programming segment, the channel will have Mix Musicians on Sundays (8-9 pm). It will tell the stories of music directors, singers, lyricists etc.

Mix will also air a special show - Yun bana Song with Swanand Kirkire, wherein the lyricist will tell the story behind the formation of songs.

In addition, Mix will also have six factoids every hour, revealing trivia details about the songs. It will play 10-12 full length songs per hour and trailers for three minutes.

MSM has started promoting Mix on its network channels - Set, Sab, Max and Pix. The second phase of promotions will start from 1 October. The focus will again be more regional.

Mix has shot 35 commercial films, airing on the network channels at present.

The logo, brand film and creatives of the channel are created in-house, while OMD is the media agency of Mix.