News Report, Lisa Tsering,
India West, Dec 17, 2004
Plugged-in young Indian Americans, you need no longer snicker at the weepy satellite serials and homegrown Saturday morning shows that have served till now as your only link to Indian pop culture: “MTV Desi” is here.
On Dec. 14, MTV announced the launch of MTV Desi, a new channel catering to Indian Americans. The channel will feature some of the most popular MTV shows from India, along with local content such as Indian American VJs, music and live events, and will run 24 hours a day.
“We truly needed to launch a pop culture destination,” Nusrat Durrani, general manager/senior vice president for MTV World, told India-West by phone from the channel’s headquarters in New York.
“This is a moment in time for the desi community — a tipping point,” he said.
MTV Desi is the first of three new ethnic initiatives planned by the channel — MTV China and MTV Korea will start airing here in 2005, with additional channels to follow.
“MTV offers incredibly diverse local programming around the world,” Bill Roedy, president, MTV Networks International, said in a statement. “These new channels will use the best of this content to provide millions of young Americans with a connection to the youth culture of their countries of origin.”
Although Durrani declined to state which shows from India would make it into the U.S. lineup, he said MTV Desi would air “the best of those Indian shows.” Some of MTV India’s most popular shows right now are “MTV Bakra” and the countdown show “MTV Ek Do Teen,” as well as the Indian channel’s first-ever serial, the reality show “Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi.”
MTV Desi will do much more than simply air a lineup of shows direct from India, he said. “The demographic in the U.S. is very different,” said Durrani. “We need to program channels being mindful of that fact.
“There are so many possibilities, to use international programming and tap into local pop culture. We want to connect on an emotional level with kids.”
As to how MTV Desi would be delivered into homes, Durrani declined to elaborate, saying that deals were still in the works. “We’re still talking to all our distribution partners,” he said, adding that the channel would likely start airing by the end of December.
But he gave a hint that the channel might be easy to get for everyone, and not just Indians. “We don’t want to be exclusive. We want to bring this culture to the rest of the U.S. We want to shine a light on Indian culture,” he said.
Though Durrani didn’t mention any advertisers in particular, I think it’s safe to bet that you’d be more likely to see spots for the Moto Razr phone and Mountain Dew than, say, the Tilda Basmati rice and goofy psychic ads that are a mainstay of channels like Sony Entertainment Television and Zee TV.
Indian music and pop culture have been floating around on the radar of MTV here in the United States for some time, said Durrani — MTV India is one of the network’s most vibrant channels, and MTV’s vice president for business development and strategy, Tony Dunaif, had long toyed with the idea before bringing in Durrani to head up the new ethnic offerings.
Durrani, a native of Lucknow, joined MTV Networks in 1996 and was part of the team that launched the network’s interactive division. He’s held a number of positions with the company, including director of business development and operations, but his most recent title was vice president of e-commerce for MTV, VH1, CMT and Comedy Central.
MTV Networks is a unit of Viacom, and owns and operates the cable television programming services MTV, MTV2, mtvU, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT (Country Music Television) and Spike TV.
The network did extensive research before starting the three ethnic channels, and determined that these populations were underserved by the media although they had a great hunger for content in their native languages and content from their countries of origin.
“Launching these new channels is the next logical and tremendously exciting step for MTV Networks, delivering customized programming that reflects the bicultural identities of these audiences, not to mention providing another platform for all the great talent from these communities,” said MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath.
One of the artists MTV Desi will spotlight is MIA, a 27-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil woman whose edgy, rapid-fire raps to Jamaican dancehall beats have earned her cult status in Britain and the U.S. “She’s our girl,” Durrani said proudly. “She’s very MTV Desi. How cool that she can have a platform now.”
This is becoming a competitive time for Indian television in the U.S.; recently, DirecTV announced that it was carrying STAR News, cricket and other STAR programming from India (both STAR and DirecTV are owned by News Corp.).
On Dec. 14, another major channel targeted at the Indian American community — “American Desi” — was launched and will be carried by DirecTV’s rival, Dish Network. American Desi has already attracted a core team of executives from NBC, ABC, FOX and other major networks (see story next week) and will feature a wide range of locally produced entertainment, news and sports.
ImaginAsian TV, also a recent entry to the field, offers pan-Asian programming in addition to Indian fare on a limited number of local cable channels.
Durrani doesn’t see the other channels as competition per se. “Clearly, people are recognizing that it’s an underserved space,” he told India-West. “That’s a good thing.”
“We are focused on a very special demographic — Indian American kids, and kids from places like Pakistan and Nepal. We understand young people. That’s our connection.”