INX Network Now Reaches 63 Million Television Viewers Across India

Mumbai, May 9, 2008 -- In April 2007, India’s INX television network was not much more than a concept – a new company, temporary offices, a handful of staff, a few systems in place, and a bold vision to become a force for change in India’s media industry.

But armed with a war chest from some of the world's leading private equity funds - including Asian investment firm Temasek Holdings (via Dunearn Investments), New Silk Route, New Vernon, and Kotak - the network’s channels have exploded from zero brand awareness and zero ratings to achieve more recognition in less time than any other player in India’s highly-competitive cable and satellite television industry.

Fast forward to one year later and the network’s music entertainment channel “9XM” occupies the number one slot across the nation, with a winning format of non-stop Bollywood hits that has left long-time rivals Viacom’s MTV and STAR TV’s Channel [V] literally eating the new channel’s dust since its
successful launch in November last year.

Launching a few weeks later, in the Hindi General Entertainment space, INX’s flagship “9X” channel began its steady climb to achieve unprecedented ratings, taking massive audience chunks from established brands like STAR, Zee and Sony, to become the most-watched of all of the recently-launched entrants into this cutthroat category – and the third most-watched general entertainment channel across the country in the all important 15-24 and 4+ year old demographics. This is according to the latest ratings data from Television Audience Measurement (TAM) and overnight ratings agency aMap.

And with last month’s launch of the premier English news channel “NewsX” - India’s only HDTV-ready 24-hour news operation with its 14 bureaus across the country - INX Media has squared the circle on the first phase of its ambitious mission.

Twelve months after the business launched, and barely six months since the first channel started broadcasting, the network’s three channels are now reaching over 63 million individual pairs of eyeballs in this nation of nearly 132 million cable and satellite television viewers.

With a dozen more regional channel launches in the pipeline for later this year, and international satellite distribution deals already inked with the UK’s BSkyB among others, reaching these milestones is paying off for the network’s savvy investors, who are now seeing multi-year deals being signed by some of the biggest advertisers in India.

Mega brands Vodafone, Coca-Cola and Emami have joined other international and domestic advertisers such as Virgin Mobile, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, Bajaj Auto, Nokia, Lenovo, Microsoft, Tata, Sony Ericsson, Turner International and HDFC Standard Life to reach over 38 million young viewers tuning in to “9XM”, with ratings almost three times greater than MTV, and eight times more than Channel [V].

Advertisers have also been quick to respond to the opportunity to reach a new audience in the Hindi General Entertainment category too. Over on “9X”, companies such as Reliance Industries and Vodafone lead the pack, together with Bharti, Airtel, Colgate, Britannia Industries, Coca-Cola, Emami, ITC, Kellogg, Nirma and Tata Sky. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) – the biggest advertiser in the country - has made a path-breaking commitment to partner the channel for three years.

The launch of “NewsX” will fuel further network growth and provide expanded opportunities for advertisers to reach India’s leaders, opinion formers, and its burgeoning well-educated middle classes.

Says INX Media Founder and CEO Indrani Mukerjea, “We have met all our major milestones and targets, and our strategy remains to continue breaking new ground. Our world-class team is committed to building General Entertainment, Music and News channels in Hindi and a variety of other languages, so as to reach out to as many people as is possible with compelling content created locally for Indians, globally. For all our stakeholders – investors, partners, employees, viewers and advertisers - we will continue to do so in ways that build long term value.”

Pavan R Chawla – Head – Corporate & Channel Public Rleations
+919819293932. Email: pavan.chawla@inxtv.in
Address: INX Media, INX House, Apsara Complex, Dr. Dadasaheb Bhadkamkar Marg, Grand Road (East), Mumbai 400007
Office tel: +91-22-66019999 Extn 921

Alastair Monteith-Hodge - Managing Director, Momentum54 Limited
7th Floor Shun Ho Tower, 24-30 Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong
Email: alastair@momentum54.com
Office tel: +852 2521 5454

About INX Network
INX Network brings world-class quality television programming to Indian viewers, globally, through its channels - 9X (Hindi general entertainment), 9XM (Hindi music entertainment) and NewsX (English news). INX Network is expanding its portfolio of television channels and other media products in Hindi, English and other languages.


INX Network URL: www.inxnetwork.in

This release was published on openPR.