Chennai, Sept. 16 INX Media, which has launched three television channels over the last year, is eyeing the launch of 18 more, spanning news, entertainment, music and niche subjects of interest, by 2011.

Speaking to Business Line here, Ms Indrani Mukerjea, CEO, INX Media, said the next 18 months would see the launch of 10 channels spanning general entertainment, music (in Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati), regional languages (Punjabi, Bengali and Marathi), and metro news (Mumbai and Delhi).

Eight channels are planned for 2010-11 in some of the same categories and include niche subjects as well as movies and entertainment in English, she added.

On the international front, the INX network plans to take its channels to West Asia and the US. Its 9X and 9XM channels are already present in the UK on BSkyB.

INX Media is talking to strategic and financial investors for the second round of funding of $150 million. However, Ms Mukerjea said they would have to take a call on such funding vs deployment of internal accruals. According to her, the stature and attitude of the partner is critical to that decision.

On News X, Ms Mukerjea said the emphasis was on deeper insights into issues and relevant news. “It’s the how and why of the information, not so much the when and where, not so much breaking news,” she said.

The aim of the news channel was to be “print on TV”, she said, pointing out that TV news viewers still revert to the newspapers for detailed information. Prime time on 9X will be extended by end-November. Currently, it runs from 8 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. By December, the channel will begin airing a drama series on the life and times of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, directed by British director Tim O’Mara, Ms Mukerjea said, declining to reveal more details.