MUMBAI: MTV Networks India is expanding its bouquet of channels. The latest to plan an entry into India is MTV2, a channel from the Viacom stable which has a mix of music videos, long form music programmes and a line-up of irreverent, lifestyle and cross platform programming focused on youth and pop culture.

MTV2 has registered for downlink licence. The other channels in the family which are already operating in India are MTV, Nick and Vh1.

“We have applied for downlink licence for MTV2. This is in line with our plans to increase the MTV Networks franchise in India," says MTV Networks India spokesperson.

As for whether MTV2 would be specifically for direct-to-home (DTH) or be made available on cable TV networks as well, the spokesperson declined to provide further details. "It is too pre-mature to elaborate on our plans at this juncture," he said.

That the company was looking at expanding its operations in India was stated earlier by former MTV Networks Asia Pacific president Frank Brown.

In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, he had said, “We are looking at a lot of ideas, including some potential channels for DTH. We are eyeing the launch of new genres of channels. We would like to explore some original channels in India and then probably use it as a test case for launching in other markets.”