Hollywood film channel Movies Now is targeting INR 950 million in advertising revenues, or a quarter of its television market segment this tax year, according to Indiantelevision.com.

The English language high definition (HD) channel, owned by Times Television Network and launched across India last December, is hoping to achieve break even ahead of original forecasts, as it forges more cable and direct to home (DTH) satellite distribution deals, according to the report.

“Our estimate is that the English movie genre should grow from 3 billion rupees to 3.8 billion rupees this fiscal. Given that we have a 34% audience share in this genre…we expect at least a 25% share in terms of ad revenue,” Ajay Trigunayat, head, Movies Now, is quoted as saying by the online publication.

English film channels have seen a 63% increase in viewers in India, according to Mr Trigunayat, who reportedly claimed Movies Now has already been able to raise its ad spot rate to INR 3000 for each ten seconds.

“The fact is that 56 million viewers tune into this category each week,” Mr Trigunayat told Indiantelevision.com. “I think that this category is being undersold.”

Movies Now currently has a library of 450 films, with 120 advertising clients including Nokia, Aircel, Coca-Cola, Cadbury's and HUL.

In addition to its presence on both analogue and digital cable networks, it is distributed by five of the six DTH operators in India, with Tata Sky being the exception. Although the company has invested in achieving a wide geographical reach, Mr Trigunayat also points to Pune and Hyderabad as being areas for improvement in terms of Movies Now’s penetration.

The channel’s latest block, called Lunch Affair and aimed at women, will launch at 3pm on 12 July, and then air each subsequent Tuesday.