MUMBAI: 21 June is World Music Day. For those not in the know, it is a day that celebrates the gift of music and originates from an initiative by American musician Joel Cohen in 1976 to have an all night musical event to mark the beginning of the summer solstice. Since then 32 countries have chosen to mark this day, no matter what the season in their respective lands is on that day.

9X Media too decided to celebrate World Music Day. It has done so in style. It today unveiled an official music video ?Tung Tucking Ting" in English and Punjabi on digital media and on all the five channels of 9X Media - 9XM, 9XO, 9X Tashan, 9X Jalwa, 9X Jhakaas. A Marathi version is slated to be released soon, along with another video which will feature Bade Chhote and Bheegi Billi will be released soon.

The official video is promoted through celeb integration which includes Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Farhan Akhtar, Mika Singh and Honey Singh. The video is composed by Vaayu Srivastava, arranged by Tanishk Bagchi and directed by Clockwork Studio creative director Mrinal Bahukhandi.

"The thought and strategy behind this campaign is simple- communicate that music is contagious. Think Music, think 9X Media," says 9X Media Network executive vice president and new business head Punit Pandey.

The channel had on 10 June released an audio teaser of ?Tung Tucking Ting? on You Tube. ?Testing the viral effect of the digital platform, we chose to launch the audio on Youtube and let the magic begin. Over the last one week, we have seen over 70 videos which are various versions of what users have done with ?Tung Tucking Ting.? The song only re?affirms our promise of delivering catchy, upbeat and popular music across all our channels which stays on your mind," informs 9X Media Network Sr. VP - digital Vibha Gosher.

9X Media which has created a separate facebook page for the song has already received 506 likes in the last one week. "We have also created a twitter account and a website to reach out to our audience. The digital media platform allows our viewers to also upload their own funny and witty version of the videos," adds Pandey. 

9X Media is also promoting the song through Red FM. The song will be aired 20 times per day on each of the five channels. The song is also available as caller tune and ringtones. "Viewers can also catch the video on www.tungtuckingting.com," informs Gosher.

MUMBAI: 9X Jhakaas has tied-up with the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh Mandal to showcase the Ganesh Aarti for all the 11 days of the Ganesh festival.

Titled ‘Ganesh Stuti‘, the special programming line-up will comprise of the Ganesh aarti from Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh Mandal and a dedicated devotional music time band.

The aarti will be aired on the channel everyday starting 19 September at 7am and will be repeated further during the day at 3 pm and 7 pm.

9X Jhakaas AVP Rohan Rane said, "Every year thousands of ardent Lord Ganesh followers visit Mumbai especially for the darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja, standing in long queues for many hours. With our special programme - Ganesh Stuti, people can tune into 9X Jhakaas and not only get the darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja but also participate in the Aarti from the comfort of their homes. The viewers will also get to watch the best of Lord Ganesh devotional songs and get the Ashtavinayak darshan all through the day. This will truly make their lives - Jhakaas!"

The channel will also air short format shows giving information on Lord Ganesh and will take viewers on a tour of Ashtavinayak giving them darshan of god.

9X Jhakaas has also tied-up with other Ganesh Mandals in Mumbai. 9X Jhakaas‘ animated character ‘Chochya‘ will visit the Ganesh Mandals along with the celebrities from Marathi film and music industry.

MUMBAI: 9X Media, the music television network, has elevated Pawan Jailkhani to the position of chief revenue officer and Punit Pandey to the position of executive vice president. 

Jailkhani, who was EVP - sales of the company, will now be responsible for all forms of revenue across the existing six music television channels operated by the 9X Media Group - 9XM, 9XM UK, 9X Tashan, 9X Jhakaas, 9X Jalwa and 9X0. He will also be in charge of revenue for all future launches by 9X Media.

Pandey, who was SVP, new business head, will be responsible for the new business initiatives by the Network and would also continue to head the business aspect of the existing six music channels.

MUMBAI: Just after two months of launching its Punjabi music channel 9X Tashan, 9X Media, the company controlled by private equity firm New Silk Route, is launching its 24-hour Marathi music channel.

9X Jhakaas, with a tagline of ?Aai Shapaath? will launch on 31 October and will be the first Marathi music channel.

The Marathi television advertising market is around Rs 5 billion plus, with three general entertainment channels (Zee Marathi, ETV Marathi and Star Pravah), one dedicated movie channel (Zee Talkies) and three news channels (Zee 24 Taas, Star Majha and Ibn Lokmat), grappling for a piece of the pie. Other players in the fray include Saam Marathi, DD Marathi and Mi Marathi.

Industry sources say that 9X Media is spending heavily on distribution as Maharashtra is a priority state for advertisers as well as media planners. "Maharashtra is a P1 and very ad friendly market. If 9X Jhakaas manages to copy the success of its Punjabi and Hindi channels, it may have a bright future. The channel is definitely going to get a first-mover advantage here," a senior media planner said.

He added that the new offfering looks "rich" and "full of Marathi heritage" from the promos that he has seen.

Sources claim that unlike the Punjabi market, where 9X Tashan had spent Rs 60 million on distribution, for 9X Jhakaas, the channel will have to spend double. "Punjab has only two major MSOs, while in Maharashtra, which is a big TAM market there are 20-25 MSOs. For a good placement, 9X Jhakaas will have to spend at least Rs 100-120 million on distribution on the state," a source in the cable industry said.

On the content side, like in the Punjabi channel, 9X Jhakaas will have Marathi film and non-film music videos, including folk, popular and contemporary.

The channel will also be streamed live online on the channel?s website, www.9xjhakaas.in, and to mobile phones.
Indiantelevision.com had first reported that 9X Media would be launching two channels by year end. The company was earlier planning a Punjabi and a Bengali channel, but changed its plans and is launching the Marathi channel instead.

Similar to the Punjabi channel, 9X Jhakaas will also air a series of humorous animated shows and shorts presented by animated characters speaking in Marathi. The channel will see a new set of characters apart from 9XM?s popular Bade-Chote.

The Punjabi music channel was launched on 31 August.