MUMBAI: The war regarding who is numero uno among the music channels is getting red hot. Yesterday Channel [V] held a party boasting that it was the number one music channel thanks to Popstars 2 and a slew of other strong programme initiatives. Piqued at this claim, arch-rival MTV has issued a response.
MTV has stated that it has consistently been on top of the heap for the last five years. "In fact in the last 12 weeks our channel share stands (SEC ABC 15-34) at 22 per cent more than that of Channel [V]. For the same period, MTV reached 24 per cent more audiences than Channel [V]," the statement says.
MTV has also pointed out that a recent ad in leading newspapers by Discovery, highlighted the fact that it was extremely strong in the 4+ audience category. Within the broadcaster's own TG 15-24, the broadcaster claims to have emerged as the leading channel followed by HBO, Discovery, Star Movies and Zee MGM.
Regarding Channel [V]'s boast of getting advertisers such as Nestle on board MTV stated, "Unlike our competition, advertisers don't just treat us as a music channel. We are the preferred television channel for any advertiser that wants to influence the 15 -34 category."
"It's been another great year for us. Some of the most exciting properties on the Indian television are on MTV - MTV Youth Icon, Lycra MTV Style Awards, MTV Hero Honda Roadies and soon, the country's first real Music Awards - MTV Immies. These properties ensure for MTV not only larger audiences but an even larger number of brands advertising on our channel."
It remain to be seen as to what B4U Music and Zee Music have to say.