MUMBAI: 21 June is World Music Day. For those not in the know, it is a day that celebrates the gift of music and originates from an initiative by American musician Joel Cohen in 1976 to have an all night musical event to mark the beginning of the summer solstice. Since then 32 countries have chosen to mark this day, no matter what the season in their respective lands is on that day.

9X Media too decided to celebrate World Music Day. It has done so in style. It today unveiled an official music video ?Tung Tucking Ting" in English and Punjabi on digital media and on all the five channels of 9X Media - 9XM, 9XO, 9X Tashan, 9X Jalwa, 9X Jhakaas. A Marathi version is slated to be released soon, along with another video which will feature Bade Chhote and Bheegi Billi will be released soon.

The official video is promoted through celeb integration which includes Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Farhan Akhtar, Mika Singh and Honey Singh. The video is composed by Vaayu Srivastava, arranged by Tanishk Bagchi and directed by Clockwork Studio creative director Mrinal Bahukhandi.

"The thought and strategy behind this campaign is simple- communicate that music is contagious. Think Music, think 9X Media," says 9X Media Network executive vice president and new business head Punit Pandey.

The channel had on 10 June released an audio teaser of ?Tung Tucking Ting? on You Tube. ?Testing the viral effect of the digital platform, we chose to launch the audio on Youtube and let the magic begin. Over the last one week, we have seen over 70 videos which are various versions of what users have done with ?Tung Tucking Ting.? The song only re?affirms our promise of delivering catchy, upbeat and popular music across all our channels which stays on your mind," informs 9X Media Network Sr. VP - digital Vibha Gosher.

9X Media which has created a separate facebook page for the song has already received 506 likes in the last one week. "We have also created a twitter account and a website to reach out to our audience. The digital media platform allows our viewers to also upload their own funny and witty version of the videos," adds Pandey. 

9X Media is also promoting the song through Red FM. The song will be aired 20 times per day on each of the five channels. The song is also available as caller tune and ringtones. "Viewers can also catch the video on www.tungtuckingting.com," informs Gosher.

MUMBAI: 9X Media, which operates Bollywood music channel 9XM, is gearing up to launch another Hindi music channel, 9X Jalwa, on 25 February.

9X Jalwa, touted as a ?timeless Bollywood music channel?, will follow the same business model of playing back-to-back Bollywood music with humour-led character?s interstitials and trivia-based slate-shows.

The new channel, with a tagline Koi Shaq, will air songs from the mid-sixties till 2000.

?We are launching 9X Jalwa on 25 February. The channel will play timeless hit music with melodies from 1965 till 2000. Competitors are airing either half-hour or one-hour slots. Our viewers will get a 24-hour channel to consume timeless Bollywood hits. We see a tremendous opportunity here,? 9X Media Sr VP and head ? new business Punit Pandey told Indiantelevision.com.

With the addition of 9X Jalwa, the genre will have 20 players fighting for an ad pie between Rs 3.5-4 billion yearly and a share of 200-240 GRPs (gross rating points) on a per week basis.

9X Jalwa, which will be tapping 25+ age group audiences in the Hindi speaking markets, will compete mainly against Adhikari Brothers? channel Mastiii, B4U Music and Sony?s Mix.

?With the new channel, 9X Media might be trying to capture more market share which channels like Mastiii, B4U and Mix are eating into by playing retro music. As of now, 9XM only plays new Bollywood music, while other pure play music channels also have significant amount of old songs,? a senior media executive who did not want his name to be revealed said.

Mastiii plays 50 per cent of retro music, while Mix also has late evening time bands dedicated to the old songs.

Some of the shows on 9X Jalwa will include Halkat Sawal, Kassette Kahaniyan and Bolly Brands. These shows will provide viewers with anecdotes from Bollywood?s golden and timeless era.

The channel will also have special bands dedicated to various moods of music. Some of the bands on 9X Jalwa include Melody Zindabad, Dil Se and Blockbuster Beats.

9X Media Sr VP and head of programming Amar Tidke said, ?We have handpicked over 2000 songs for airing on the channel initially. Viewers will relive the golden era of Bollywood melodies on 9X Jalwa. You will have to see it to believe it.?

9X Jalwa will be an encrypted channel with a free-to-air window and in first phase of launch, will be available on cable and satellite homes in India. Similar to other channels in the 9X Media bouquet, 9X Jalwa will also have a live streaming facility through its website ? www.9xjalwa.in.

9X Media recently launched Punjabi music channel 9X Tashan and Marathi music channel 9X Jhakaas.

MUMBAI: 9X Media, the company controlled by private equity firm New Silk Route, is swinging back into action. Two regional music channels are readying for launch this fiscal, a source said.

The first to roll out this month is a Punjabi music channel. The Bengali channel will come up by the year-end.
 
"We are launching the Punjabi channel this month," said 9X Media chief financial officer Bhupendra Makhi, while declining to comment on other issues.

The Punjabi channel is named 9X Tashan and will have "Yaaran Da" as its tagline. It will have Punjabi music videos including folk, popular and Bollywood.

Modelled like the flagship Bollywood music channel 9XM, the new channel will also have animated characters like Bade-Chote and Falli-Balli along with some new characters - all in a Punjabi avatar.

9X Tashan will have to contest in a market that is flooded with channels like PTC Chak De, ETC Punjabi, Balle Balle, Lashkara and MH1. And to find distribution on cable networks, the channel has earmarked a budget of Rs 60 million on distribution in the Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh (PHCHP) markets.

The company believes that with a targeted approach, the channel will have an edge over the others. A senior sales executive said that even though the PHCHP belt is a B1 market for sectors like telecom, automobiles, beverages and FMCG, there is potential to expand the ad pie.