Date:15/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/10/15/stories/2004101500630300.htm

Back SS Music to telecast in Dubai through Pehela Network

Nina Varghese

SS Music VJs Carey (sitting) and Craig at SS Music's new game show. — Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai , Oct. 14

SOUTH Indians in Dubai can soon see their favourite shows on SS Music. Mr Ramesh Babu, President, SS Music, said that the Chennai-based music channel would be signing a memorandum of understanding with Pehela Network, a direct-to-home (DTH) platform, to distribute SS Music in the Gulf.

He said that the Pehela Network has about three lakh subscribers and SS Music is assured of a minimum of 50,000 subscribers to start with. This would be followed by similar launches in Europe and the US, Australia and New Zealand, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It has written to Doordarshan to make the channel available on its DTH platform. This could take about a month.

The channel plans to introduce two new shows from October 18. One of these will on the latest craze among young people — gaming. This show will be hosted by VJs who will explain the nuances of the games and where they are available. The second new show will be High-Five, which is a rating of the latest songs by the viewer. The replies can be sent to the channel by SMS, phone or mail. Mr Ramesh Babu said that the channel is now entirely dependent on advertising revenue; only 20 minutes are devoted to lottery results. The channel has been able to increase its rates because there is more demand from advertisers, as it has a presence in four southern States.

Though Mr Ramesh Babu said that the channel had started making a profit, he declined to reveal the actual figures.

In September, it launched a voice hunt in all the major metros in the four southern States. The response to the voice hunt was good and the channel has selected five youngsters to form a band.