The Viacom-owned channel, which secured landing rights for the province in April, will have 10 performers - half from Hong Kong and the rest from China - headlining the concert. "Its the first big concert in China since the Sars outbreak so we're hoping it will make a lot of noise for us," said Jessica Kam, the channel's newly-promoted deputy general manager of MTV Guangdong, who retains her role as vice-president of communications.
Kam said the entertainment line-up had yet to be finalised at press-time as there was strong interest among celebrities for guest slots at the concert. The channel is also finalising sponsorship packages,which will be limited to four advertisers.
MTV will break a radio, print, outdoor and POSM campaign in the next few weeks to promote the event. Kam said the radio burst would feature a competition element, offering concert tickets as prizes. It has also lined up convenience store chain 7-Eleven for a POSM campaign, Nan Fung TV as a media partner, while its print push will include city dailies.
Clips of the concert will be broadcast on the station's Mandarin-language feed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia later this year.
The concert is the channel's first on-the-ground promotion to market its newly-launched Guangdong feed.
"The Pearl River Delta is a very affluent area and securing landing rights gives us a first-mover advantage to tap this important market," Kam said.
MTV is only the latest broadcaster after AOL Time-Warner's CETV joint-venture, Hong Kong station Asia Television, Star and Phoenix to secure landing rights in the province - making it the only global brand among the small coterie of broadcasters with an approved route into the province.
Kam said initial rating figures were promising for a feed that runs about 40 per cent locally-generated content, 30 per cent sourced from Hong Kong and Taiwan and the rest from its international broadcasts.
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia estimates MTV China reaches 87 million homes nation-wide, making it the second-largest foreign broadcaster after ESPN Star Sports' 110 million homes.