MUMBAI: Music and lifestyle channel Vh1 plans to scale-up both its programming and digital zones.
Vh1, which has been the only channel providing music lover's daily dose of international music, pop culture and celebrity lifestyle in India, has ramped up its programming with on air and on ground initiatives in recent months, some of them being the Global Music Xpress, Dance 101, Big Brother, Nokia Vh1 Playlist, Jazz Masters, Yo Momma and tickers.
Launched in January 2005 in India, the channel today claims a reach of over 14 million households across India. The channel plans to revamp itself and scale up its programming in the coming couple of months, according to Vh1 India Associate General Manager Ferzad Palia. "We are going to be scaling up everything –the lifestyle angle, the reality show and the comedy angle," he says
The channel also plans to up its support for Indian musicians. "We would be supporting Indian musicians having international dreams. For this, we plan to tie a knot between the resources that we have in India with that of the credibility that Vh1 has globally. One of the things that we are looking forward is to pair Indian artistes along with International artistes – We'll spot talent, nurture them, support them and groom Indian music to take it to the next level." Palia adds
Speaking on the channel's plans on the digital front, Palia says, "We will make several of our programming initiatives available for download. We are working closely with mobile operators to provide more options for our audience to have access to our content. We are working on a few a break-through concepts with telcos to start a download and streaming revolution."
With an exhaustive music library spanning over 30 years and genres like flower power, punk, rock, reggae, hip hop, pop and many more, Vh1 customizes its music and programme mix to appeal to Indian tastes. Globally, Vh1 is available across 148 million households in over 124 countries/territories.