IMMIES are the only legitimate awards: Alex Kuruvilla, MD, MTV India

In a first of its kind development in the music industry, music channel MTV and the Indian Music Industry (IMI) have joined hands to present the Indian Music Excellence Awards or IMMIES on December 12, 2003 in Mumbai.

The IMMIES will have 23 categories encompassing film music, Indipop, international, inspirational, gazhals, devotional and classical music. "It is," as Alex Kuruvilla, managing director, MTV Networks India, states, "the currency of the music industry." "This is the only award to be supported by the IMI. Hence, it is the only legitimate one," he states.

To be simulcast on Sony Entertainment Television and MTV, the investment in the IMMIES, according to Kuruvilla, is substantial given the scale of the event. "It will definitely drive and fuel growth," he says. The mechanics of the awards are such that the main categories of film and Indipop will be open to viewers to cast their votes while devotional, gazhal, classical (the three are clubbed together), inspirational and international will be judged by separate juries.

Market research agency IMRB has been commissioned to coordinate work on the main categories, which involves conducting a quantitative study of the nominations received across seven cities. "This has been done to ensure that the system is full-proof. With an independent third party involved in nomination and voting, discrepancies can be avoided," he says.

The network has had a legacy of organising international award shows such as the MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards and MTV Asia Awards. Within Asia, the network has editions in China, Indonesia and Philippines with the Indian chapter adding one more to the list. "The music industry needs an avenue of this size," explains Kuruvilla. "Primarily to galvanise the business as a whole, and second, to provide a level-playing platform with an international flavour."

For IMI, a consortium of over 50 music companies, the IMMIES is a culmination of a long-cherished vision. "In the past we have had DIVA and the ZEE Sangeet Awards," says VJ Lazarus, president, IMI. "In the last three to four years we haven't really had an award. We wanted to institutionalise one and MTV was sensitive to this issue," he says.

MTV will kick off a multimedia campaign with a fair mix of above- and below-the-line activities, not to mention over 80 hours of dedicated programming and 1,700 on-air promos. "We are hoping to see a 30 to 40 per cent growth in viewership by the end of the year," says Kuruvilla. "Apart from the IMMIES, we have the Style Awards, the MTV Roadies, a reality show, which is to premiere in October this year, and our regular programming including Fully Faltoo, Bakra, One Tight Slap, which add to our variable mix." © 2003 agencyfaqs!