Wikipedia

Pakistan Television Corporation

Pakistan Television Corporation(Urdu:پاکستان ٹیلی وژن نیٹ ورک;reporting name:PTV) is thePakistanistate-ownedbroadcasterfounded by theGovernment of Pakistan,operating under theMinistry of Information and Broadcasting.It was established on 26 November 1964, with a pilot television station established atLahore.[1]

Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV HD)
Type
BrandingPTV
Country
Pakistan
AvailabilityNationwide and Worldwide
HeadquartersIslamabad
Broadcast area
Pakistan and World
OwnerMinistry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of Pakistan
Key people
Sohail Ali Khan
(Managing Director)
Launch date
26 November 1964;59 years ago(1964-11-26)
Picture format
1080pHDTV(downscaled to16:9576iforSDTVsets)
Official website
www.ptv.pk
LanguageUrdu, English

Background

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Historical context

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The idea of establishing a media and television industry was conceived in late 1956 and created by the privately set up national education commission, with the support ofPresidentAyub Khanin 1960.[2]In 1961, theprivate sectormedia mogul and industrialistSyed Wajid Alilaunched a television industrial development project, bringing the role ofUbaidur Rahman,anelectrical engineerin the Engineering Division ofRadio Pakistan,as the project director of the first television station inLahore.[2]Ali reached a milestone in 1961 after establishing a private television broadcasting company with the cooperation ofNippon Electric Company(NEC) of Japan andThomas Television Internationalof theUnited Kingdom.[2]

In 1963, a public meeting was chaired by PresidentAyub Khan;in which the government made decisions about the Pakistan Television stations and the media industry in the country.[2]Since 1963, its headquarters are in Islamabad, near theCabinet Secretariat.From 1961 to 1962, a television headquarters was established inLahoreand several pilot transmission tests were taken by Rahman's team. Subsequently, many television divisions were established throughout Pakistan by this team, includingEast-Pakistan.[2]

First-ever broadcast and private ownership

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On 26 November 1964, after an introduction bySyed Wajid Ali,the first-ever news broadcast was done which was beamed as ablack and whitetransmission by the PTV. The first programme, formatted by Thomson Television International, telecast amateur programmes withforeign films;the television division in thePunjab Provincewas established with the help ofUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),theColombo Plan,and theGovernment of Japan.[2]Aslam Azhar(1932–- 29 December 2015) was appointed the firstmanaging directorof thePakistan Televisionin charge of all the staffing requirements at the first PTVLahoreCenter. This first managing director and executiveAslam Azharis widely considered to be the "father of Pakistan Television".[3]Private industries commercials were permitted with no fee; initially all the commercials of industrial conglomerates were tax-free with no additional charges.[2]

The PTV remained under theprivate sectormanagement with more than half of the shares were sold toMinistry of Information and Broadcastingin a fear that all shares would fall into the hands of government in the name of greater interest of the country.[2]

The project began with a tent on the back lot ofPakistan Broadcasting CorporationbyUbaidur Rahmanwhere a transmission tower and a studio were constructed by his team. On 26 November 1964, President Ayub Khan inaugurated the first official television station commencing transmission broadcasts fromLahore,followed byDaccaon 25 December 1964 (then the capital ofEast Pakistan;renamed toBangladesh Televisionin 1971), a third centre was established inRawalpindiandIslamabadin 1965 and the fourth inKarachiin 1966.[2]On 29 May 1967, a private company was established asPakistan Television Corporationunder the Company Act, 1913, whereas the private sector remained charged with broadcasting on the television.[2]At that time, all studio programmes were telecasted live as no VTR recording machines were available, which were made available in 1968.[1]

Nationalization of Pakistan Television

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After theIndo-Pakistani warin 1971, the PTV wasnationalizedand brought in completely under thegovernment-ownershipmanagement by the thenPresidentZulfikar Ali Bhutto's government.[2]Communication network expansion was vast by the PTV and government publicly funded its infrastructure expansion all over the country.[2]

Promotion ofregional literature,science-fiction miniseries,country music,andromanticizingrural values indrama playwrightswereon-airedby the PTV, at the behest of public funding by theGovernment of Pakistan.[4]The PTV was considered as source of majornational integration.[5]

Microwave National Network was established among the centres of PTV in 1973 while Quetta and Peshawer centers were started in 1974.[1]

The PTVtransmissionswitched over from its originalblack and whitetocolor transmissionin 1975.[1][6]Regional headquarters of PTV and television centers were established inPeshawarandQuettain 1974.[4]In 1977–78, the PTV broadcast the liveCricketmatch betweenEngland vs. Pakistan.[7]During this time, the PTV's interview programming series brought many scientists, politicians, sportsmen, actors, musicians, and artists to public fame.[2]

Development

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By the 1980s, the transmissions of PTV could be reached over 90% area of Pakistan.[4]In 1980s, the PTV was the sole provider oftelevision,and dominated the electronic media industry.[5]During 1980s, theconservative ideaswere promoted on the PTV as part of the government policy, and heavy investments were made on the promotion of education programming series.[5]

In 1990s, the PTV's programming was said initially to have intellectual appeal but succumbed to commercial pressure.[5]In 1992, the composition of PTV's programming was based upon on 56% of entertainment, and only 25% of news and educational programmes. About 54% of national programming was based onUrduand only 16% accounted forEnglish.[5]

State capital revenue

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Unlike other state-run corporations, Pakistan Television Corporation was allowed by theGovernment of Pakistanto raise a sizable amount of privatecapitalto finance the stations. This includes aRs.35 per monthTV feecharge to all consumers of electricity.[8]

Censorship

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PTV, being the state broadcaster, has exclusive access to telecast parliamentary sessions. It has been observed to censor speeches of opposition leaders on several occasions.[9]During March 2024, the broadcaster censored the speeches ofAkhtar Mengal,Asad Qaiser,Mahmood Khan Achakzai,andOmar Ayub.The speeches of Achakzai, Ayub, and Mengal were completely blacked out for speaking about Pakistani military's interference in the political process. In response, the lawmakers submitted a privilege motion against the broadcaster.[10]

Channels

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PTV operates the following channels:

  • PTV Home– 24-hour HD Entertainment channel (the original PTV also called as PTV ONE), the transmission is broadcast across Pakistan onterrestrialnetwork and worldwide through satellite. The content of the terrestrial and satellite channel is different, for example, terrestrial programming includes live telecast of Pakistan'scricketmatches but satellite channel cannot broadcast these matches.
  • PTV News– 24-hour Urdu HD News Channel which can be viewed in many parts of the globe. Replaced PTV World in 2007.[1]
  • PTV Sports– 24-hour HD Sports channel that started its regular transmission from January 2012, it was planned in 2003 inMir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's tenure but not launched due to political reasons. Now it's a cricket channel which is scrambled and not free for viewers on satellite. Another channel for sports is in pipeline since February 2016.
  • PTV World– 24-hour SD English News and Current affairs channel. Started as PTV-2 in 1992 as first satellite channel of Pakistan, was given a new name of PTV World in 1998 later and went off air in 2007, it was re-launched in January 2013.
  • PTV Global– Offered exclusively for thePakistani diasporain theUnited StatesonDish Network,andEurope.
  • PTV National– An emphasis on broadcasting programmes in different languages to represent the whole of Pakistan.
  • AJK TV [PTV Azad Jammu & Kashmir]– For the residents ofAzad Jammu and Kashmir.
  • PTV Bolan– For speakers ofBalochiPashtoandBrahvi.
  • PTV Parliament– Launched on 30 May 2018, brings live proceedings of Pakistani parliament and its committees.[11]
  • PTV Teleschool- Launched on 14 April 2020, to compensate for academic loss in light of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[12]

PTV Films Division

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On 9 June 2022Minister of Information and BroadcastingMarriyum Aurangzeband PTV launches PTV Films Division along with another initiative was being launched by the name ofPTV Flixwhich would feature the 75 years of rich content in the form of dramas, films and other genres in the archives of PTV. The purpose of these is to bring films to the PTV screen but also to generate quality content in the country.[13][14]

Training academy

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Main article:PTV Academy

Established in 1987, Pakistan Television Academy is an apex TV institution in Pakistan, which imparts professional training in disciplines of television broadcast technology. It is headed by a full-time director and assisted by a team of television professionals who are members of the academic faculty.[1]

PTV personalities

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See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdef"History of Pakistan Television Network".Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2008.Retrieved19 November2023.
  2. ^abcdefghijklmIndrajit Banerjee; Stephan Logan, eds. (2008)."Television in Pakistan".Asian Communication Handbook, 2008.New York: Asian Media Information and Communication Centre. pp. 377–400.ISBN978-981-4136-10-5.
  3. ^PTV to launch a new sports channel in FebruaryHipInPakistan website, Retrieved 19 November 2023
  4. ^abcQadeer, Mohammad (22 November 2006)."Development and Countryside"(google books).Pakistan – Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation.Routledge, Qadeer.ISBN978-1-134-18617-4.
  5. ^abcdeThomas, Amos Owen (3 October 2005).Imagi-Nations and Borderless Television: Media, Culture and Politics Across Asia.SAGE, Thomas.ISBN978-0-7619-3396-0.
  6. ^Gunaratne, Shelton A., ed. (2000).Handbook of the media in Asia(1. Aufl. ed.). New Delhi [u.a.]: Sage, Gunaratne. p.62.ISBN0-7619-9427-0.
  7. ^Samiuddin, Osman (December 2014).The Unquiet Ones: A History of Pakistan Cricket.HarperCollins Publishers India.ISBN978-93-5029-802-2.
  8. ^"AsiaMedia:: PAKISTAN: PTV to earn Rupees 4 billion through license fees: New collection system".AsiaMedia Archives website.Archived fromthe originalon 17 September 2011.Retrieved19 November2023.
  9. ^Editorial (6 March 2024)."Selective broadcasting".DAWN.COM.Retrieved7 March2024.
  10. ^Ali, Kalbe (5 March 2024)."PTV continues blackout of opposition lawmakers in NA coverage".DAWN.COM.Retrieved7 March2024.
  11. ^"Marriyum Aurangzeb launches PTV Parliament channel – Daily Times".srytv.pk.30 May 2018.
  12. ^"Teleschool goes on air today to compensate for academic loss".Dawn (newspaper).14 April 2020.Retrieved24 January2022.
  13. ^"Marriyum Aurangzeb launches PTV films and Pakflex projects".The Express Tribune newspaper.9 June 2022.Retrieved19 November2023.
  14. ^"Celebs shower wishes as Pakistan Television launches PTV Films".Associated Press of Pakistan website.9 June 2022.Retrieved19 November2023.
  15. ^Urdu Literature: Bokhari of the radioDawn newspaper, Published 31 October 2010, Retrieved 19 November 2023
  16. ^"Ashfaq Ahmed profile".PTV GLOBAL website.Archived fromthe originalon 10 May 2015.Retrieved19 November2023.
  17. ^"Bushra Ansari profile".PTV GLOBAL website.Archived fromthe originalon 11 May 2015.Retrieved19 November2023.
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