MUMBAI: Max is steadily planning expansion overseas with its international channel, which is all set to launch in the US in October.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Sony CFO and Max business head NP Singh said, "We launched Max international in July. As of now we available in the Middle East on Pehla. Our next stop is the US. We are talking with different parties regarding carriage. We are currently testing in Europe and hope to launch in the third quarter."

Singh added that while Max was looking at Africa as well a timeline for that launch has not been decided. "Australia and New Zealand are still some time away for us. For Hindi general entertainment and movie channels the strong markets are the Middle East, US, UK and Africa. In Asia they are Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia."

As far as challenges involved in distributing Max abroad are concerned Singh added that the first challenge is to make sure that the channel is available across all the international territories. "That is where our focus rests at the moment. You have to meet competition in every market that you get into. That is not something, which worries us."

Singh noted with surprise that Israel was an emerging market for Indian channels and that China and Japan were also coming up. "Maybe Indian channels in their entirety cannot go into those markets yet as 24-hour channels due to capacity constraints. However many of those broadcasters are seeking Indian product for their networks."