Music Television is now MTV

MTV has decided to drop the term 'Music Television' from its logo and is set to explore other genres to keep in sync with the changing tastes of audiences.

The logo, which has been around since 1981 when the channel was launched in the US, will be seen in its new avatar from Saturday.

"Dropping the 'Music Television' from under the logo is a big symbolic statement and finally closes the loop on the repositioning exercise MTV kicked off two years back. We were born of music, inspired by music, driven by music – but not limited by music," said Ashish Patil, general manager and senior vice president (Creative and Content), MTV India.

The channel is also creating a new "graphic environment" to back the initiative.

"MTV is about new ideas, new formats, new ways of reaching people in the new places they choose to live in. It is about constant change and it is beyond music, beyond television," added Patil.

Four new shows are being launched by the channel on various mediums other than television.

While MTV Rant will be premiered only on mobile phones, MTV What The Hack will be available on the web. In a unique initiative, MTV Acting Classes will be offered on the channel's voice portal on 5056882.

The new programming initiatives are being implemented to boost evening viewing between 7 pm and 9 pm. Some of the new programmes are MTV GTalk, MTV Loveline Reloaded, MTV Dance Crew, MTV Star Scraps and MTV Fantastic Five.

"We want to leverage this time-band because there are no major offerings on the GECs (general entertainment channels) at this time. We hope to build on appointment viewing," says Ashish Patil, general manager and vice-president, creative and content, MTV India.

The channel will position these properties as Heaven at 7 on weekdays. To provoke a contrast, the new season of Roadies will be positioned as Hell at 7 on Saturday. "We are introducing new design and packaging for the channel using MDS Design, which is MTV's in-house design agency," reveals Patil.

The new packaging has been implemented in Brazil and Canada also. It includes attributes such as on-screen graphics, activities and tune-in messages on the screen. "This international graphics and packaging environment is such that it lends itself to interactivity and dynamism," he states. This, he believes, will ensure tune-ins for all the shows, which will be telecast back to back.

The channel will also focus on the Internet. Most of the programmes, Patil informs us, are telecast first on the Net. "Programmes such as Roadies and MTV GTalk, which have a lot of content that can’t be aired on television, are available online," he says. Uncut, unedited versions of its various shows are telecast on the MTV India website, www.mtvindia.com. The website has six lakh registered users.

The channel’s new avatar and offerings will be promoted extensively through the Viacom-18 network channels, as well as the MTV website.