MUMBAI: With an aim to bring in fresh content to its viewer platter, India based international music channel 9XO is introducing three new concepts for its viewers. 

While ‘Deaf Punk’ is a 10-15 seconds animated funny clip, ‘Classic Timehop’ is a weekly half an hour show. Additionally, the channel also has special plans for 15 August and will be introducing a new initiative called ‘Feel Free’.

‘Deaf Punk’ is about an animated character that mishears lyrics of songs and sings it wrong. Currently, there is Deaf Punk's version of Taylor Swift's ‘Shake It Off’ and Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ on the channel. The animated clips of ‘Deaf Punk’ are also made available on the channel's website.

Commenting on the same, 9XO programming head Clyde D'Souza said, “Deaf Punk will include not just hit songs but new tracks as well. Yet another concept we developed was ‘Classic Timehop’; since most of our target audience is youth, we though it is essential that we introduce them to classic songs.” 

The 30 minute block on Sunday at 10 am, will play greatest hits from the 60s through to the 90s. 

D'Souza added, “We want our young audience to know the great musicians of the past like Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, AC/DC and The Beatles among others. It is about going back in time to bring back the legends of music.” 

Along with the daily programming of top 40 latest hits, ‘Classic Timehop’ will be repeated throughout the week at regular intervals.

Author of ‘Ghanta College - The Art of Topping College Life’ also informed that the channel is not aggressively promoting the initiative. He said, “We are looking at popularising both the properties organically.”

‘Feel Free’ - the special initiative, will start a couple of days prior to for Independence Day. The animated series will talk about porn, alcohol, music and any other topical themes. It is a six-part series, which will revolve around freedom. Additionally, as part of their I-Day programming, the channel will feature independent acts from North, East, West and South, who will sing covers of various songs. It will feature names like Beat Hierarchy (Bengaluru), Indus Creed (Mumbai), Abiogenesis (North East), Neel and The Lightbulbs (Kolkata) and Thermal and A Quarter (Bengaluru). 

After I-Day, the channel will deliver special programming on the King of Pop- Micheal Jackson’s birth anniversary on 25 August on the show ‘Classic Timehop’. 

Apart from this, the channel also has plans to air content based on the partnership with music festivals like Sunburn and EVC (Enchanted Valley Carnival). D'Souza revealed that 9XO will continue such partnerships as it is of interest to their audiences and is a good marketing strategy for the festival promoters.