EXCLUSIVE: MTV India to tap Saudi market

Entertainment brand MTV India is looking to expand into Saudi Arabian in a bid to tap the lucrative Indian expatriate market, the CEO behind the venture said in an interview in Dubai.

The launch of MTV India is a joint venture between IndiaCast, Indian broadcaster TV18 and Viacom, the US media giant behind The Walt Disney Company, Time Warner and News Corporation.

Regional advertising sales for MTV India will be handled by IndiaCast's Dubai office, which currently employs a team of five people.

Anuj Gandhi, Group CEO, IndiaCast said Dubai would remain the company’s main sales hub but it was looking to tap into the potential for a station in Saudi Arabia and appoint sales reps for the kingdom.

“I don’t think it will require us to open offices but if it makes business sense of course we could have reps… Saudi is a market you could probably look at a rep… If it makes sense we will not say no,” he said.

The channel will be available on Pehla-branded packages across DTH, Cable, IPTV and SMATV across most Middle East countries.

MTV India is IndiaCast's second channel in the region after the September 2010 launch of Hindi-language entertainment outlet COLORS.

“MTV India is our second brand in the region and we intend to grow our presence here with more offerings from our extensive news and regional channel portfolio in the near future,” said Gaurav Gandhi, COO of IndiaCast.

MTV India is primarily aimed at young adults aged 15 to 34, with a collection of music programming, talk shows, fashion and style shows, Bollywood-style comedy shows and adventure shows.