"We are building up the brand of the channel. We have an established product and feel the need now to invest in branding," said AXN Action TV managing director Todd Miller.

AXN will organise on-ground events to develop the brand and enhance the involvement of its viewers. "We are organising some major events next year. The exact line-up is not yet drawn," said Miller.

AXN will also focus on adventure as an important personality of the channel. For this purpose, it has acquired an exclusive three-year telecast rights of Echo Challenge, a popular adventure expedition race. The show, which was earlier on Discovery Channel, will be aired from next year.

AXN will in September launch action animation in the country as part of its move to strengthen weekend programming. "We will get the best of western and Asian action animation to the channel," said Miller.

The channel concentrated on popularising two programming genres in the first year of its operations: Action Movies and Action Series. AXN has four programming franchises including Action Animation and Action Sports and Adventure. With the strengthening of the programming pillars, Miller believes the channel can be pushed forward as a global brand. It is already available in Asia, Latin America and Europe. In Asia, it is available in nearly 17 million households. It will also be available to more than 250,000 households in Hong Kong from August.

AXN plans to break even in the next two years, said Miller. Sony Pictures Entertainment owns 100 per cent stake in the channel.

The channel's ad revenue India in the first six months of the current year has increased by 300 per cent over the corresponding period of last year, said AXN Action TV director of South Asia Achal Mehra. "Our inventory utilisation in prime time is 70-80 per cent. The trend is only vertical," he added.

In India, the channel reaches out to 10 million homes. It is a pay channel, distributed by Sony Entertainment Television. It is uplinked from AXN's production facility in Singapore.