MUMBAI: Music channel Music F Fata-Fati has witnessed an increase of 20 percent in its viewership after the channel started broadcasting retro Bengali music. With this, the music channel goes on to become the fastest growing music channel in Bengal.

When asked about the idea of broadcasting retro Bengali music, CEO Dicky Speak & Channel Consultant, Vikas Varma, said, “Retro music in Bengal has been created by some of the stalwarts of the Bengali music industry. Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, RD Burman and Manna De have been the superstars of the industry. I consider Music F Fata-Fati as the Las Vegas of Bangla music entertainment TV and only the very best music is played here. Surprisingly, no music channel did this and fortunately for us, it has worked.” Considering the fact that the channel was launched only a year ago, playing Bengali retro music on the channel was a risk “only on paper”.

Varma revealed that when Music F Fata-Fati was launched, there were three established Bangla music channels already in play for a while. “Although, between them, they were fulfilling the ‘song’ needs of Bangla viewers, there was a huge gap in satisfying the well-deserved ‘musical pride’ of contemporary modern Bengali population,” he added.

When asked about other plans for the channel, Varma did not reveal much, but said, “I can say that we will continue to seek new and surprising ways to entertain our viewers. The best ideas are always the simplest and in hindsight, the most obvious. Unlike some, with immense pride, I like to think of ‘entertainment’ as the world’s oldest profession. The ultimate benchmark of a civilisation is its ability to entertain its people. And I believe that Music F Fata-Fati has set new standards in Bengal.”

The channel was launched in February 2014 with the aim of filling up inventory and bringing new clients on board. Helios Media, COO, Bala Iyengar, who oversees advertising on the music channel said, “You can increase ad rates only and only when you have enough clients on board and our advertising inventory has gone up by 400 per cent as compared to last year. Now that we have created value for the channel, we have new advertisers coming on board.”

Music F Fata-Fati, like some of the other music channels, also has animated characters- Pappi Da, Jogai and Madai. As a part of introducing new elements to the channel, Varma revealed that he also plans to launch other animated characters in a month’s time.