MUMBAI: UTV’s new Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Bindass catering to the youth, will hit air waves in August. However, the exact date is yet to be finalized. The company will also be launching an additional three channels on the lines of Bindass in the coming months.

The channel is a part of UTV and Malaysia based media company Astro Measat’s joint venture. A total of Rs 2.70 billion (Rs 270 crores) for the initial three years for the Bindaass bouquet. A total of Rs 490 million (Rs 49 crores) has been earmarked for the promotion and marketing of the Bindaass brand.

The channel is targeted to the youth in the age group of 15-34. Speaking about the idea behind the channel, Bindass CEO Zarina Mehta said, “We are a nation of youth and the channel has been conceived keeping that fact in mind. The cornerstones of our channel being fun, freedom, frankness and fearlessness. We are hopeful that the channel would have a lot of appeal in terms of content and presentation for the youth.”

The programming of the new channel would be a mix of stand-up comedy shows, movies, late night horror shows and sports programmes. Interestingly music has been kept out of the programming menu. Says Mehta, “We deliberately kept the music bit out of our programming strategy because we want to maintain our own identity. If you add music to your programming menu you become like others.”

The channel also announced the launch of Bindaass Space Yatra, a nationwide hunt for the first young Indian space tourist. The lucky winner of the hunt will get a chance to travel as a passenger on board a Rocket plane into space.