MUMBAI: Even as rumours of an affiliation with music major MTV do the rounds, relative greenhorn channel Southern Spice claims it is the reigning sound of music across television screens in the South.

Quoting TAM data for the week ended 10 April for the 15-34 ABC South India market, the channel says it has a channel share of 41 per cent in the South, much ahead of MTV's 28 per cent share. Zee Music with a 14 per cent share and Channel [V] with a 11 per cent share are ahead only of B4U Music, which has a single digit share of six per cent, according to the TAM data.

SS Music also claims a cumulative reach of 14.65 per cent, a notch over arch rival MTV's 12.5 per cent. Channel [V] comes a distant third with 6.81 per cent reach, during the prime time of 4 pm to 11.30 pm.

The channel that recently turned three and is in the process of establishing itself as a premium music brand, says it has a 51 per cent channel share in Tamil Nadu, 47 per cent in Kerala, 33 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and 42 per cent in Karnataka. Interestingly, Karnataka is the only state where its cumulative reach falls substantially below that of MTV, while it is on par with MTV in Kerala and higher than MTV in both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.