INX Media reveals production partners for 9X

INX Media has finalised on 11 production partners for its GEC, which is to be called 9X. 9X is a Hindi entertainment channel and will be officially on air by the last quarter of this year. The production partners for the channel are Balaji Telefilms, Synergy Adlabs, Creative Eye, Ugreya Entertainment, Endemol India, BAG Films and Media, Hats Off Productions, Miditech, Wizcraft International, Edit II Productions and Beyond Dreams Entertainment.

Anthony Pettifer, group director, brand and communications, INX Media, explains that the purpose in getting together so many production houses for one channel is to have variety in programming. He says, “We aim to create content that is of the highest quality, targeted at the family and entirely different from conventional programming.”

Siddhartha Basu, chairman and managing director, Synergy Adlabs, says, “9X will aim to create differentiation through its programming, which will be targeted not only at the woman of the house, but at the family as a whole. This will provide a broader canvas of audience and help reach out to genres apart from females and including males, the elderly and teenagers.”

Talking about the marketing strategy, Pettifer points out that 9X will be promoted through a 360 degree communication plan, which will reach consumers at various touch points through various media. The media mix is likely to include television, print, outdoor and ambient advertising, radio, Internet and mobile promotions and other innovative promotional activities.

For the record, INX Media will launch three channels by the end of this year. The other two channels will be 9XM, a youth oriented Hindi music channel, and News X, an English news channel. The creative duties for 9X and News X lie with Meridian, an Ogilvy group agency, while that of 9XM lie with Orchard Advertising. The advertising budget for 9X and News X combined is estimated to be Rs 50 crore. The budget for 9XM alone lies in the region of Rs 20 crore.