Television in Pakistan started in 1964 and the first live transmission of Pakistan Television began on 26 November 1964, in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

.PTV's Official Corporate Website

History

In Pakistan Television was first introduced in an exhibition near

Mazar-e-Quaid Mazar-e-Quaid ( ur, , lit=Mausoleum of the Leader) is the resting place of Muhammad Ali Jinnah situated in Karachi, Sindh. The marble monument comprises a surface area of . It is surrounded by formal gardens and designed in an Islamic modernist ...

on 16 September 1955. This event was arranged by American consulate in Karachi. The idea of establishing the television industry in Pakistan was conceived by the National Education Commission with the support of President Ayub Khan. Originally a private sector project in 1961 by prominent industrialist Syed Wajjid Ali who signed a joint venture agreement with Nipon Electric Company (

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

), leading Pakistani engineer Ubaidur Rahman was appointed by Wajjid Ali to head the television project. By 1962, after a series of pilot transmission tests, the project was quickly taken over by the

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

Government in 1963 for the "greater national interest of Pakistan".

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

re-appointed Ubaidur Rahman in 1963 under the Ministry of Information to continue with the NEC joint venture collaboration to launch

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical c ...

or PTV. The project began with a tent on the back lot of

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 Augus ...

where a transmission tower and a studio were constructed. On 26 November 1964, the first official television station commenced transmission broadcasts from Lahore, followed by

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

in 1965 (then the capital of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wit ...

). A third centre was established in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

in 1965 and the fourth in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

in 1966. Later centres in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

and

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of th ...

were established by 1974. PTV was given under Television Promoters Company in 1966 which was established under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the same year. TPC was upgraded to Pakistan Television Corp in 1967. In 1972 PTV Corporation was nationalized. Originally broadcast in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, PTV's experimental colour transmission began on 20 December 1976.History of Pakistan Television Network
With this new upgrade in techniques and equipment, the Pakistan Television Academy was founded and opened in 1987 to teach students who wished to work in the medium. As with the other agreement, the government financed most of the funds while the private

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which h ...

ists offered to fund the remainder. Late 1980s morning transmission started on PTV. In 1990, the then government launched the first semi government TV network of the country by the name of "Peoples Television Network" (PTN) under the Peoples TV Network, a wholly owned company of Shalimar Recording Company (which is Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Company now). PTN, the wholly owned company was merged with Shalimar Recording Company in 1991 and the TV Channel PTN was renamed as Shalimar Television Network (STN). PTN/STN started from Islamabad first and then from Karachi, Lahore and by mid-1990s the network made its way to the whole of the country. STN for the first time in Pakistan started the programming of

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

on the terrestrial beam, this was the first project of STN. Soon programs of BBC World started. In 1990, PTN under an agreement with the a private company (Inter-flow) started first ever private TV slot of Pakistan, Network Television Marketing (NTM), in this way STN's broadcast became the combination of programming of CNN, slot of NTM and limited broadcasts of programming of BBC World and German DW TV. This successfully continued till 1999. NTM came as a breath of fresh air to the Pakistani viewers due to its fresh and innovative programming. PTV Network launched a full-scale

satellite broadcasting A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

service in 1991-1992. PTV-2, the first ever satellite channel of Pakistan started in 1992. In 1994, PTV was made part of the satellite beam along with PTV-2. PTV 2 was renamed as PTV World in 1998. PTV-2/World also enjoyed viewership on terrestrial beam. In 1998 PTV in association with a private company (Prime Entertainment Network) started PTV Prime, exclusively for European and later for American viewers. Digital TV satellite broadcasting was launched in 1999. PTV/PTV-1 got its satellite beam (independent of PTV 2/World) in 2001. NTM went off air in 1999 due to financial losses and with that STN also shut down CNN International broadcast, and had limited programming of BBC World and DW TV in 1999. STN was taken over by PTV Network in 1999 and was given new name Channel-3 which started its transmissions on regular basis in 2000. A satellite beam of STN/Channel-3 was also arranged. In 2000, the then government of Pakistan opened up new ways for the media industry of Pakistan by allowing private TV channels to operate openly even to telecast their own news and current affairs content. Indus Vision (first ever private

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

channel of Pakistan) was launched in 2000.

ARY Digital ''ARY Digital'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani pay television network available in Pakistan, the Middle East, North America and Europe. The ARY Group of companies is a Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of ...

was launched in September 2000, Geo TV in 2002, Aaj TV in 2004 and

Hum TV Hum TV is a 24-hour Urdu General Entertainment TV channel based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded by Sultana Siddiqui and Duraid Qureshi. It is owned by Hum Network Limited and traded on Pakistan Stock Exchange as (HUMNL). Hum Network L ...

was launched in 2005, and the phenomenon went on. In 2005 Channel-3 went off air and with that Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Company renamed its TV channel to ATV (a joint venture of Shalimar Rec. & Broadcast. Co. & SSI) and ATV started its transmission as the only semi-private TV channel of Pakistan being shown on terrestrial as well as satellite beam (Now ATV is working as semi-government TV Channel as SRBC has not extended its agreement with SSI). In 2007, PTV or PTV-1 was given a new name PTV Home and PTV World went off air (PTV World restarted in 2012-13 as the only English language/pure satellite channel of Pakistan). PTV News replaced PTV World in 2007. PTV Home, PTV News (both state owned) and ATV (semi private) channels are shown on terrestrial beams along with the satellite beam. While recently started PTV Sports becomes available on terrestrial beams in place of either PTV Home or PTV News only during the important national and international sports events. PTV Prime went out of PTV's purview in 2005 as an independent Prime TV ; PTV launched an exclusive channel for Americas & Europe in 2006 i.e. PTV Global.

Notable TV networks

National Broadcasters Currently two TV networks, working under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Federal Government are given the status of National Broadcasters. *PTV Network (PTV Corporation), The state owned TV Network: Following TV Channels are working under PTV Network ** PTV Home ** PTV News ** PTV Global ** PTV World ** PTV Sports ** PTV Parliament **

PTV National PTV National HD is a Pakistani free-to-air television channel owned by the Pakistan Television Corporation Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the telev ...

PTV Bolan PTV Bolan ( bal, , brh, , ps, پي ټي وي بولان) is a television channel launched by PTV that broadcasts regional programmes in Brahui, Balochi and Pashto. PTV Bolan was launched in 2005 by then Prime Minister. It is primarily targ ...

** AJK TV **PTV Teleschool *Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Company: Following TV Channel comes under SRBC ** ATV Private TV Channels There are many privately owned television networks working. These are: *

ARY Digital Network ARY Digital Network ( ur, ) is a subsidiary of the ARY Group. The ARY group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Haji Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (ARY). The network has a video on demand streaming service call ...

: **

ARY QTV ARY QTV, formerly known as Quran Television (QTV), is a Pakistani television channel with a Sunni Islam belief, that produces programs mainly having focus on the Barelvi, Ahlesunnat wal Jamaat. QTV (ARY), QTV is part of the ARY Digital Network of ...

ARY News ARY may stand for: * Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, a Pakistani expatriate businessman * Andre Romelle Young, real name of Dr. Dre * Ary and the Secret of Seasons, an action adventure video game * ARY Digital, a Pakistani television network * ARY Digital Net ...

ARY Musik ARY Musik (, formerly The Musik) is a Pakistani pay television music channel, first launched in 2003 as "The Musik" in Dubai by Salman Iqbal. It is part of the ARY Digital Network. In 2009 its name was changed to "ARY Musik". It features mus ...

** ARY Zindagi **

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

** ARY Digital UK ** A Sports *Geo TV Network **

Geo TV Geo Television Network is a television channel based in Pakistan. It was established in May 2002 and is owned by the Jang Media Group. The channel began its test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning on 1 October ...

Geo News Geo News is a Rank Number 1 Pakistani news channel owned by the Jang Media Group. History The Geo Television Network started out with the launch of its flagship channel Geo TV in October 2002 but has since launched several other channels whic ...

Geo Super Geo Super is the first 24-hour Karachi-based Pakistani Television channel dedicated to the world of Sports. It is owned by the Jang Group of Newspapers. Geo Super was launched in September 2006. It has broadcasting rights for many sporting event ...

** Geo Tez **

Geo Kahani Geo Kahani ( Urdu: ) is an entertainment channel of Geo network, broadcasting in Urdu. Title song of channel is sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Some of the most popular dramas are '' Naagin'', '' Champa Aur Chambeli'' and '' Kiran''. Geo Kahani ...

* Hum TV Network **

** Hum News ** Hum Masala ** Hum Sitaray ** Hum Pashto 1 *Indus TV Network ** Indus News * Aaj TV Network ** Aaj Entertainment **

Aaj News ''Aaj News'' () is a 24-hour Pakistani news television channel. It is a privately owned Urdu language TV station which covers national and international news. The channel started out as hybrid channel (news, current affairs and entertainment), ...

** Play Entertainment * Express TV Network **

Express Entertainment Express Entertainment is a Pakistani entertainment television channel that airs dramas, soaps and lifestyle programs. History Express Entertainment and sister station Express News are part of Express Media Group. Express Entertainment airs ...

** Express News * Dunya TV Network ** Dunya News * Airwaves Media/Interflow ** TV One **

News One (Pakistani TV channel) ''News One'' is a Pakistani Urdu-language TV channel, based in Karachi. It launched on 27 November 2007 and is owned by Air Waves Media (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of the Interflow Group which also owns TV One, Waseb TV, Sonic TV and FM91. The c ...

** Waseb TV * Leo Communications **

Filmazia LTN Family is a 24-hour Urdu General Entertainment channel owned by Leo Television Network, which is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It broadcasts local and different multinational shows including Turkish and Korean content. The channel began its ...

** Film World ** Filmax **

LTN Family LTN Family is a 24-hour Urdu General Entertainment channel owned by Leo Television Network, which is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It broadcasts local and different multinational shows including Turkish and Korean content. The channel began its tra ...

** Aruj *

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

* Samaa Network **

Samaa TV Samaa TV ( ur, سماء) is a Pakistani Urdu language news channel owned by Aleem Khan. It is the fourth-largest news channel in Pakistan with a market share of 7 percent. The word 'Samaa' ("سما") is Urdu for 'sky' or 'heaven'. It is broadca ...

* 92 News ** Channel 24 **

Public TV Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

** SEE TV ** Oxygene * Apna Network ** Apna Channel ** Abb Takk ** 8XM **

Jalwa ''Jalwa'' is a 1987 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Pankaj Parashar and produced by Gul Anand. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah and Archana Puran Singh in the title roles. The film is set in Goa, where it was mostly shot. The fil ...

* Channel-5 * Channel-7 * Roze News * Discover Pakistan TV * Such TV * Koh-e-Noor News * Raavi TV * KTN ** KTN Sindhi ** KTN News * Sindh TV Network ** Sindh TV ** Sindh News * Khyber TV Network ** AVT Khyber **

Khyber News Khyber News is a News and Current Affairs Pashto satellite television channel in Pakistan, which was launched in August 2007. The channel broadcasts 24 hours a day, providing news, current affairs programs and informative programs to the Pashtun p ...

** K-2 * VSH *

Urdu 1 Urdu 1 ( ur, ) is a 24-hour Urdu language television network, owned by Alliance Media FZ LLC, which is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The channel's transmission became available in Pakistan on 12 June 2012, with regular transmission begi ...

Mashriq TV ''Daily Mashriq'' (Pashto: روﺯنامه مشرق) is an Urdu-language daily newspaper published from Peshawar, provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The newspaper was founded in 1963 by Inayat Ullah Khan. Muhammad Iqbal Khawaja is the curre ...

* Afghan TV * Rohi TV *

Dharti TV ''Dharti TV'' ( sd, ڌرتي ٺي وي, ur, ) Television Network (Dharti TV) is the first private TV channel. This Channel is general entertainment Channel which covers Dramas, News, Music and Current Affairs. Fazul Samejo, is the chief repor ...

* Mehran TV * Kashish TV * Virtual University of Pakistan ** VU-1 ** VU-2 ** VU-3 ** VU-4 * Pashto 1 * H now

Distribution

In Pakistan only the national broadcasters are allowed to use terrestrial airwaves. Three free to air TV Channels are available on terrestrial beam, these are PTV Home, PTV News and ATV. PTV Sports is available in place of PTV Home or PTV News when an important match/event has to be given live coverage as PTV has the rights for sports coverage at terrestrial airwaves. Transmissions of AJK TV are available on terrestrial network in the northern areas of

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger ...

only. Recently Pakistan has launched Digital terrestrial broadcast in selected areas only in collaboration with China. Through DTMB five TV channels of PTV Network, ATV and two Chinese TV Channels are available via terrestrial beam. Many national and international channels are available via satellite. Some National TV Channels are "pay to watch". Internet Protocol TV Service is provided by Pakistan Telecommunications company limited which is of high quality and is quite popular in the urban centres. Cable TV Networks are the most famous mode of television distribution in Pakistan. No direct to home (DTH) service is available in Pakistan, though efforts are being made in this regard.

Regulation

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ( ur, ) is an independent and constitutionally established federal institution responsible for regulating and issuing channel licenses for establishment of the mass media culture, print a ...

regularizes the TV Channels in Pakistan. This authority issues licences for the launch of any TV Channel in Pakistan. Above mentioned national broadcasters, i.e PTV Corp and SRBC do not come under purview of PEMRA.

References

{{Television in Pakistan

History

Notable TV networks

Distribution

Regulation

Most viewed channels

See also

References