Action channel AXN has announced the second season of the reality show ‘The Amazing Race‘. AXN will broadcast the first two episodes of ‘Amazing Race 2‘ this Friday, 15 March back to back, from 8-9 PM and 9-10 PM

Subsequent episodes will air every Friday at 9 PM, with rebroadcasts on Sundays at 1pm and 5pm, and on Mondays at 10 PM

Commenting on the first performance of the first installment, Rohit Bhandari, senior marketing manager, AXN, said it did reasonably well with an average share of 20 per cent among the international channels. Ratings were no doubt helped by the fact that participants had come to India for a couple of days, Bhandari said.

The format is the same as the first season. Eleven new couples with a pre-existing relationship race around the world to win $1 million.

‘AXN HAS CORNERED 9 PM SLOT‘: Referring to the channel‘s viewer base, Bhandari said AXN had seen a shift in its demographic profile. When the channel started operating in 1998 the male female ratio was 70:30. Now it is a more balanced 57:43. He said that the two reality shows which recently commenced on the channel ‘Fear Factor‘ and ‘Scariest Places On Earth‘, have cornered the most share in the crucial 9 PM prime time slot as opposed to movie based programs on rivals like HBO and Star Movies.

Referring to other programming initiatives, Bhandari said eight episodes of the new season of ‘Who Dares Wins‘ will be shot in India. This will basically comprise of street dares. The more adventurous will be flown to Australia to compete in the main dares. Bhandari said that the main dares need to take place in Australia as the tasks are complex and require technical expertise to ensure safety of participants.

People can nominate those whom they want to see on the tube. An on air campaigns will be conducted telling people to send in entries and then a lucky draw will be held.

As for the upcoming attractions the channel has on offer, April will see the launch of the second season of Crime Scene Investigation. Besides this ‘The Agency‘, about the manoeuverings of the CIA will enthrall viewers.

May will witness the airing a stunt awards show which will take place in Los Angeles. The aim is to honour people behind action scenes. The channel will organise a marketing initiative around the event. Watch this space for further details.

As far as film-based programming is concerned AXN claims a viewership of 2.33 million for ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon‘ which had its premiere on the channel in December. Films that will air later on in the year on AXN include the Kevin Bacon scare fest ‘Hollow Man‘, the chick action flick ‘Charlies Angels‘, and ‘6th Day‘ with Arnold Schwarzenneger getting cloned.

Viacom-owned global music channel MTV is set to add another channel to its empire when it launches MTV Indonesia in May.

MTV Networks Asia has signed a deal with broadcast network Global Television and its parent outfit, investment holding company Bimantara Citra, and will be aired on the Global TV platform, an official release states.

The deal also marks a split of sorts with MTV‘s current terrestrial partner in Indonesia, Anteve. MTV and more recently kids‘ channel Nickelodeon programming has been carried on Anteve for 38.5 hours per week. The new arrangement will see MTV Indonesia on Global TV while Nickelodeon will air on Anteve.

Available as a 24-hour UHF terrestrial channel, MTV Indonesia will offer a mix of programming of Indonesian and international shows. In addition to Indonesian-specific programmes like MTV Ampuh, MTV Getar Cinta, MTV Land, MTV Mix, MTV Salam Dangdut, MTV Seratus Persen Indonesia, MTV What‘s Up and MTV Wow, more local content will be added to the channel. To cater for the new shows, the current cast of MTV VJs will also be expanded in the near future, the release says.

MTV Indonesia will initially be available in five key cities - Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya and Medan and expects to reach 15 million households. Subsequently, it will be rolled out to more cities in the country.

"Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and a very important market to MTV Asia. We are very excited about working with Global TV and look forward to introducing more unique and relevant content to the Indonesian audience. With MTV‘s proven music expertise and Bimantara Citra‘s presence and clout in the domestic market, I am confident we can further build MTV‘s undisputed leadership in the Indonesian music television business," said Peter Bullard, senior V-P and MD of MTV Southeast Asia and MTV Network Group.

"The youth segment is very promising and still untapped in Indonesia. With the support of MTV Asia, we believe that MTV will be recognized as the most effective vehicle in reaching to the youth in this market," said Adji Gunawan, CEO of Global TV.