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to second-generation diasporic youth culture as distinct from the other
television channels that also draw on Bollywood content to address first-
generation immigrants from the Indian subcontinent. Instead of regarding
Bollywood as a link to “home,” as the advertising campaigns of television
channels like ETV and ZEE TV proclaim, MTV-Desi could have positioned
Bollywood as part of a larger arena of cultural production that reflected the
particular life experiences of South Asian American youth. As we will see,
MTV-Desi was in some ways emblematic of “ethnic” media companies that
operate in the United States today, and in other ways was strikingly differ-
ent, given that it was firmly established within and in relation to mainstream
media corporations in the United States and India.

“I Want My Hyphenated-Identity MTV”

In July 2005 MTV Networks announced the launch of MTV-Desi, a niche
channel for South Asian American youth. Launched with great fanfare,
MTV-Desi sought to respond to ongoing changes in South Asian Ameri-
can culture and create a space within mainstream media that would speak
to the particular experiences of Desi youth. In addition to Bollywood song
sequences and Indi-pop music videos, the channel would feature U.S.- and
U.K-based artists like DJ Rekha, M.I.A., and Jay Sean alongside popular
American stars in order to create a multiethnic, multigenre playlist that
would resonate with Desi youth. While music would remain the primary
focus of programming, MTV-Desi would also develop new segments cover-
ing a range of topics related to life in South Asia and the South Asian dias-
pora worldwide, including original shows such as “Live From,” which would
track Desi youth culture in cities across North America and the U.K., “Desi
Sweet 16,” which was modeled on the Sweet 16 series on MTV USA, and hit
shows like Roadies from MTV-India. Recognizing the transnational nature
of Desi youth culture, writers, producers, and VJs worked hard to define
MTV-Desi as a unique site of cultural production that neither mainstream
American television nor the India-centric programming on Dish TV and
DirecTV could match.
Declaring that MTV-Desi would soon become the “pop culture destina-
tion for Desis,” Nusrat Durrani, General Manager and Senior Vice President
of MTV World, explained: “But more than the music, it is also about articu-
lating the stories from this community—young South Asian Americans who
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have grown up in the country, but have not seen themselves on TV.” At the
same time, Durrani aimed to fashion MTV-Desi not simply as a channel
for South Asian American youth but as a space that would showcase South