Coca-Cola and Indiatimes.com, have renewed their sponsorship of the programme, which airs from July 15 for 17 consecutive weeks.
Channel V vice-president, content and communications, Keertan Adyanthaya, said that Popstars 2 was a natural progression. Adyanthaya pointed to Nielsen's TAM research which showed that Popstars was the most-watched music programme among India's upmarket cable and satellite viewers.
On the back of the show 's popularity, Channel V India's share of viewership surged 50 per cent.
Popstars follows the creation of a four-member band, from auditions in seven Indian cities. The appeal to viewers is that they can watch as popstar wannebes get an image makeover, train and compete against each other to reach the final four, when they go on to record their first album. Last year's show led to the setting up of the all-female group, Viva, whose debut album sold half a million copies. For the second installment, two girls and two boys will be selected by a jury, composed of Indian music celebrities and a Channel V VJ. Channel V will be leveraging the strength of the Star network in India to promote Popstars 2.
Adyanthaya said: "To generate the greatest hype, the first episode will be simulcast on Channel V, Star Plus, Star Gold, National Geographic Channel and Vijay. The following five episodes will be aired on Channel V, Star Plus and Star Gold. Thereafter, it can only be seen on Channel V."
A dedicated website - cokevpopstars.indiatimes.com - will also help to promote the programme. Star India has also appointed Bates Mumbai to map out the communications strategy, comprising a nationwide campaign in addition to advertising created for specific cities, such as where auditions will take place: Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. Popstars is based on a show of the same name produced by Zeal International subsidiary, Sportsworld, which has licensed the format to Channel V. Similar shows have been developed for several markets around the world, including Australia, the UK and Canada.
Additional reporting by Divesh Gupta.
