 | |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Branding | PTV |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Availability | Nationwide and Worldwide |
| Headquarters | Islamabad |
Broadcast area | Pakistan and World |
| Owner | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan |
Key people | Ms Ambreen Jan (Managing Director) |
Launch date | 26 November 1964; 60 years ago (1964-11-26) |
Picture format | 1080pHDTV (downscaled to16:9576i forSDTV sets) |
Official website | www |
| Language | Urdu, English |
Pakistan Television Corporation (Urdu:پاکستان ٹیلی وژن نیٹ ورک;reporting name:PTV); also known asPakistan Television, is thePakistani state-ownedbroadcaster founded 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]
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 Khan in 1960.[2] In 1961, theprivate sector media mogul and industrialistSyed Wajid Ali launched a television industrial development project, bringing the role ofUbaidur Rahman, anelectrical engineer in 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 International of 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 inLahore and several pilot transmission tests were taken by Rahman's team. Subsequently, many television divisions were established throughout Pakistan by this team, includingEast-Pakistan.[2]
Although it was originally supposed to go on air on 1 September 1964,[3] the first-ever news broadcast was done on 26 November 1964 after an introduction bySyed Wajid Ali which was beamed as ablack and white transmission by the PTV. The first programme, formatted by Thomson Television International, telecast amateur programmes withforeign films; the television division in thePunjab Province was 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 director of thePakistan Television in charge of all the staffing requirements at the first PTVLahore, Center. This first managing director and executiveAslam Azhar is widely considered to be the "father of Pakistan Television".[4] 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 sector management with more than half of the shares were sold toMinistry of Information and Broadcasting in 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 Corporation byUbaidur Rahman where 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,[5] followed byDacca on 25 December 1964 (then the capital ofEast Pakistan; renamed toBangladesh Television in 1971), a third centre was established inRawalpindi andIslamabad in 1965 and the fourth inKarachi in 1966.[2] On 29 May 1967, a private company was established asPakistan Television Corporation under 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]
After theIndo-Pakistani war in 1971, the PTV wasnationalized and brought in completely under thegovernment-ownership management 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, andromanticizing rural values indrama playwrights wereon-aired by the PTV, at the behest of public funding by theGovernment of Pakistan.[6] The PTV was considered as source of majornational integration.[7]
Microwave National Network was established among the centres of PTV in 1973 while Quetta and Peshawar centers were started in 1974.[1]
The PTVtransmission switched over from its originalblack and white tocolor transmission in 1975.[1][8] Regional headquarters of PTV and television centers were established inPeshawar andQuetta in 1974.[6] In 1977–78, the PTV broadcast the liveCricket match betweenEngland vs. Pakistan.[9] During this time, the PTV's interview programming series brought many scientists, politicians, sportsmen, actors, musicians, and artists to public fame.[2]
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By the 1980s, the transmissions of PTV could be reached over 90% area of Pakistan.[6] In 1980s, the PTV was the sole provider oftelevision, and dominated the electronic media industry.[7] During 1980s, theconservative ideas were promoted on the PTV as part of the government policy, and heavy investments were made on the promotion of education programming series.[7]
In 1990s, the PTV's programming was said initially to have intellectual appeal but succumbed to commercial pressure.[7] 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 onUrdu and only 16% accounted forEnglish.[7]
Unlike other state-run corporations, Pakistan Television Corporation was allowed by theGovernment of Pakistan to raise a sizable amount of privatecapital to finance the stations. This includes aRs. 35 per monthTV fee charge to all consumers of electricity.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12]
PTV operates the following channels:
On 9 June 2022Minister of Information and BroadcastingMarriyum Aurangzeb and PTV launches PTV Films Division along with another initiative was being launched by the name ofPTV Flix which 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.[15][16]
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]
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