By: Javaid-ur-rahman
ISLAMABAD – In a response to a news item appeared in daily TheNation on May 17 “PTV Global unable to reach US viewers-Negligence takes heavy toll”, the state-run TV has tried to give an explanation, which, however, does not address the points raised in the above-mentioned story.
A clarification by the PTV says that an incorrect impression has been created about its performance as PTV-Global is still enjoying good viewership in the US with around 23,000 subscribers and is a profitable venture apart from playing an important role as a national broadcaster.
However, it is pertinent to mention here that in the aforementioned story it was clearly mentioned that the number of PTV-specific subscribers declined from 17,000 to around 1,400. But the PTV’s response mentions the number of Mega Pack subscribers, a conflicting figure, as subscribers of five to six channels are included in it. The clarification also mentioned that Ministry Information & Broadcasting, PTV Board and PTV management were conscious of their responsibilities to maximise the potential of PTV-Global.
It is quite strange that if PTV management is conscious of its responsibilities, why concrete measures were not taken even after the matter was vociferously raised in the two boards of directors meetings. It is also noticeable that explanation of negligence has also been sought from Chairman PTV & Secretary information Ministry on the report.
The clarification also mentions that several meeting have been held in recent past to further improve its viewership and revenue and various options and means are being looked into in order to achieve further improvement. Well-placed sources said that its licence had already been cancelled in 2008 and a couple of months before the authorities were reprimanded on airing some advertisement.
In the clarification it was clarified that the decision to take over the PTV operations in US by PTV itself instead of allowing the third party to continue was a conscious decision keeping in view the strategic importance of the state channel. The decision also proved successful financially, as it generated revenue of Rs180 million during last three years (2006-09) whereas previously from 2003 to 2006 PTV did not earn a single penny through third party. As far as the subscribers’ number is concerned, it is stated that in 2003 PTV Prime had little competition with Pakistani channels, which had increased manifolds by 2009 and thus it is understandable that the viewership is divided among all the channels.
Source: The Nation
Date:5/19/2010
