It's Men on AXN's agenda

Starting 13th October 2010, AXN started the telecast of a new show- Men 2.0, a show for style lovers, on every Wednesday at 9.00 p.m. The show will try to capture the imagination of today's urban and stylish men. The two hosts of the show are Keith and Shibani Dandekar, the show focuses on hi-life with 13 themes cocooned in delectable classifications.

The hosts will be seen performing interesting activities such as riding Harley Davidson bikes while visiting fantastic destinations like Goa. They will also try to inform the viewers about the latest gadgets; some must visit holiday destinations, introduce them to adventure sports and provide the audience with tips for a perfect date. Moreover, the show will also feature the Dream Riders, men who chased their dreams and turned them into successful businesses.

Speaking about his new association with AXN, Keith said, "Hosting this show was one of the best things that happened to me. It has been a fantastic experience. Exploring the nightlife in Mumbai, indulging in adventure sports, driving Harleys around picturesque locations, I couldn't have asked for more. Of course my co- host Shibani made the experience even more memorable."

Echoing similar views, Shibani said, "I think I am having an awesome time shooting and hosting Men 2.0 along with Keith. Keith knows very well how to charm a woman and is extensively knowledgeable on the latest. He is the perfect co ' host."

Speaking exclusively to Adgully, Rohit Bhandari, Senior Vice President, AXN & Animax, said, "AXN has always tried to provide newer and fresher content to their audiences. Moreover the Indian economy is looking poignant, the lifestyle of an average consumer is improving and more and more brands are entering the Indian market. So given this change in the market scenario, our new show will try to cater to the Indian men of today who are go-getters and have immense self-belief in themselves."

The show will be marketed across OOH platforms and cross-channel promotions; the channel is looking at putting the message out there to its target audience and at the same time drive them towards the channel. The presenting sponsors for the show are Sony Bravia and Samsung Galaxy and the associate sponsors include Garnier Men, Woodland and Nescafe.

Since the show will have a special section on technological gadgets, it will have some sponsor integrated products too.

The channel in the past too has come out with programming that is indigenized and more relevant to the Indian viewers and has a lot of plans to come out with more original Indian content. However, the channel wants to take it slow now, and build on the "cost to return" analysis and probably a few years down the line the channel will have more Indian content.

"India is a vast market, there are so many show formats that have been tried and tested. But we at AXN believe in providing unique and exciting content to our audiences. Hence we would want to go slow at telecasting more original Indian content but at the same time we want to have a better, unique, acceptable and exciting programming," Bhandari adds. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]