MTV adds flavour to its programming

A new show MTV Stripped, and two fillers Mentos and MTV Mute and MTV Gone in 60 Seconds were introduced during the last weekend

A week after Channel V announced its revamp, and introduced a line-up of new shows, MTV also added a new flavour to its shows. A new show MTV Stripped, and two vignettes Mentos MTV Mute and MTV Gone in 60 Seconds were introduced during the last weekend.

MTV Stripped, went on-air on Friday, August 21 at 7 pm. This show is a fun take on popular TV shows and their characters. It will feature Siddharth, the winner of Vodafone MTV Splitsvilla 2, in the segment called Party Pooper, where he will gatecrash into parties of television actors and bombard them with mindless questions. The show will follow the television scenario and TV actors for its various segments such as Party Pooper and Faking News. MTV Stripped replaces Teen Diva, a reality show involving teenagers.

On why the channel decided to focus on television through this show, Ashish Patil, general manager and senior vice-president - creative and content, MTV India says, "We love to hate them. They give us a reason to laugh and the real drama happens on television. That is why we are focussing on television for MTV Stripped."

Mentos MTV Mute and Gone in 60 Seconds are five- to ten-minute vignettes, which will be shown throughout the day on the channel.

Mentos MTV Mute, which went on-air on Saturday, August 22 at 8:30 pm has a unique format -- unlike the constant bickering on other shows, it is a silent show. MTV has roped in two Roadies Battleground participants, Eric and Vaibhav, who make their debut on the channel with this comedy show.

MTV Gone in 60 Seconds is telecast at 8 pm. The youth channel has partnered with Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ for this show, which is about quick 'gyan'. From the dos and don'ts of first dates to entertaining Bollywood expressions, this show aims to provide all kinds of information.

Talking about the new launches, Patil says, "All the three programmes on our channel are full of fun. It's mad stuff happening on MTV India. This week, we will be launching Rock On and also announcing the next season of Roadies. We are catering to a very fickle-minded audience and judging their likes and dislikes is very tough. That is why we are launching shows which are completely different from each other."

Patil rubbishes the claim that the launches are in response to the recent revamping of their closest competitor. "We revamp in response to our consumer and not competition. That is the reason we are two steps ahead of our competition."

Though the channel is not undertaking any heavy marketing initiatives, on-air promotions on MTV and digital presence are being utilized to spread the word. As an effort to strengthen its digital presence, MTV showcased all the three shows on its website first, before broadcasting them on television.

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