The Rise and Fall of a super brand

The Rise and fall of a super brand 

By Sheeraz Adil 

I thought I would never see a down fall of a well establish brand and it will remain only in our marketing books that every product has a life cycle.

For those who have no idea about the product life cycle, it is one of the core principles of marketing that every product goes through 4 stages

1:Introduction
2:Growth
3:Maturity
4: Decline

When my marketing teacher introduced this concept, it suddenly came to my mind that only newly opened businesses can decline as one can understand that it is hard for them to sustain but once the product reaches its peak how can it decline. Or else not very huge companies can decline like Frooto, Choco Chums, Haleeb, RC Cola and Polka to name a few but their decline was primarily because of the tough competition from the huge companies like Nestlé Unilever Coca Cola and Pepsi.

Then I realized that the life cycle exists for all the products doesn't matter if they are on their peak. Some unbelievable declines of the recent times are Nokia, Blackberry and now GEO which is of most interest to me being part of the same industry.

Geo has been an institution in the Pakistan Broadcast Industry. It has produced talented journalists, engineers, directors and many other professionals.

Things that went wrong with geo:

1: Feeling of being super power

Geo thought they control everything in Pakistan and to some extent it wasn’t wrong at all. However too much of everything leads to a path where you don’t realize what you are doing. Many think that Geo has played a vital role in defaming Pakistan internationally. . The most disliked content ever broadcasted by geo according to me was their attempt to proof the plan and nationality of Ajmal Kassab. I still have a question in mind that what could be the objective of geo broadcasting the investigating reports with no proper proofs.

I would sort of agree with it however we should also realize the role that geo has played in promoting the positive image of Pakistan, whether its any achievement in sports or research or some really effective education and awareness campaigns it was only Geo in the whole industry who could have done this for Pakistan

Although geo is by far the most neutral content provider but one felt that something is wrong. Too much support to the current government and  being one of the biggest supporters of the controversial Chief Justice pushed geo to where it is now. It is also said that it is because of Geo , General Musharraf is having tough time in Pakistan. I personally think that he doesn’t deserve what he is going through these days. Democracy is fine, but he did what none of the democratic leadership has done to Pakistan. He was the one who coined the free media term in Pakistan otherwise we would be relying on the 9 pm pro government news of our state broadcaster.

2: Ignoring other participants of the race

There is another strategy that we learnt in marketing and that is cooperative strategy. Geo didn’t consider having alliance with any of its competitors and this lead to the grand alliance of its competitors against geo. It is really sad when one of the journalist or team members of any channel dies due to any terrorist activity, the other channel ignores such a big incident. On all these occasions all the channels should have a collective voice.

Most of the channels in Pakistan now seem to have one aim- and that is to make sure that geo doesn’t recover from the recent hit. It should not be this way; the industry will suffer if something happens to geo. When most of the channels are reluctant to pay even salaries, geo has always ensured that the employee gets the salaries on time.

3: Supporting too much PML-N and ex CJ

It is a general feeling that geo is too much pro PML N and ex CJ. No matter if geo denies this but it is quite evident that the content after the elections has been biased. I think we haven’t eliminated any corruption or miss management in the government run organizations as compared to the last government but certainly we haven’t seen that sort of criticism for this government like it was in the previous one.

4: Unnecessary defaming of ISI chief

I think this has been discussed on all the forums so I need not to write too much on this. It shouldn’t have happened. This is irresponsible journalism and many think that you don’t do this with your top agency and if you do you are off air!

5: Revenge mode against Musharraf

We all know that geo was banned in Musharraf’s reign and geo also faced tough time in UAE due to the pressure of Gen. Musharraf however that doesn’t mean that you start taking the revenge on air.

Things in which geo was accused and blamed unnecessarily

1: Morning show issue & its reaction

It wasn’t an issue at all, this was unnecessarily created by its biggest competition. I am not an expert but this is not be wrong if I say that ARY and Mubashir Lucmans content has way passed the level of extremely immature journalism. The series of Mubashir Lucmans Baba ji campaign was pathetic and pointless. But it shows the mindset of our people and how external forces creates and changes the perception of the masses.

2: To an extent Aman ki Aasha

I think Aman Ki Aasha was a very nice campaign if the objective was to reduce the tension at the borders and to improve the economy. We all should realize that we should have good relationship with our neighbours in order to excel. However at the same time if there is some anti state activity by the neighbors then it should also be broadcasted in order to be neutral. Certainly Aman ki Aasha is pointless if we find  out that the India is responsible for the unrest in the country. In addition to this, even if they are responsible for this, it cannot be done with our black sheep so instead of blaming others we should identify bad people amongst ourselves in order to eliminate this issue.

3: Cable operators Mafia

I am sure now the government would realize that how important for us is DTH and even if we have to continue with the cable then they should be a proper frame work , rules and guidelines for the cable guys to operate.

 

Conclusion:

I am not an expert but if geo shuts down it will be the worst night mare of our industry. It has a huge employee base and so many kitchens are running because of geo. Not sure how can this be done but there should be a solution to this extremely big issue of the industry. I wish that geo improves its deficiencies and come back on track. With BOL to launch soon , there should be tough competition between all the leading channels for our industry’s growth.

All the stake holders need to realize if one horse falls in the race, the other horses also fell. So Geo should be running in order to have a smooth race!

My Name is Afridi and I am not a terrorist!!

Apologies for writing a non broadcast engineering article, but its difficult to maintain two blogs. We will work out on this soon. 

I don't know if this is something that is happening to us in all aspects of life but this is something that should not happen at least not in sports. I will keep this article short as I know that most of the readers including myself lose interest if the content is too much to read.

I made a visit to Dubai Sports City for some personal work and got stuck in the rush as there was an IPL match happening in the Dubai Cricket Stadium. Being the die hard fan I thought I should also try to get a glimpse of all the international players. But literally tears came in to my eyes when I realised that there are no Pakistani players in the IPL.

I have always been looking at the two sides of the picture and in this case tried to rethink to get the answer for myself as in why are the Pakistani cricketers deprived from this glamorous event. I thought a lot but couldn't find any answer to this. Asked many friends but even they had no idea as why is this being done to only players from one country who has the most wins in the T20 format, whose bowler has been the highest wicket taker and as we all know that role does Shahid Afridi plays in this format. I can bet all cricket fans love to watch him play. Even my Indian hair dresser said that I would have gone to watch the match if Afridi would have been participating in IPL. This is the team who has always been in the semi finals of all world cups of this format.

No international board has raised this question that why is this injustice done to only Pakistanis. At least ICC should raise this issue with BCCI. All my Indian friends want Pakistani players to participate in the IPL then the same question comes in the mind...why?

Pakistanis are just not getting the chance to earn on the same scale financially but they are missing the chance to play international cricket , interact with other players and missing the exposure that all other countries are getting.

With all this injustice , no home cricket , being pushed in the corner but still we are called the team who can beat anyone, this team is called the team with the most talented players and always give tough time to all other teams. Irony is that UAE was considered as the home ground of Pakistani cricket but the cricketers were not invited to play on their make shift home grounds.

I would like to admit that we may have some terrorists living in our country but our cricketers are not terrorists.  They should be treated like all other players of the world. Inclusion of Pakistani players will not only increase the popularity in the game but commercially it will also help BCCI to earn more which is the most important infact seems the only objective of BCCI.

As my best friend slash proof reader says "Politics should be separated from sports. The sport it self gives a message of friendship and harmony. How on earth , we can side line the most fertile land of cricket and do favoritism among the so called big names."

In the end I will leave the conclusion open till the time we are included , should we not boycott the IPL , shouldn't our channels stop broadcasting IPL, should our news channels stop covering that event and should our advertisers stop paying for this event??

Types of CTOs

Being in the industry for almost 10 years now, I have some very good friends working as the Chief Technology Officer in various companies of the Broadcast Industry in Pakistan. This article is not to offend any of my friends but just thought that we all should realize what factors we consider before making the decision and what factors should we actually consider in acquiring the technology.

To make it interesting I have categorized major types of CTOs , they are

·         TYPE 1: I want the best

·         TYPE 2: why should I invest so much?

·         TYPE 3: give me best price

·         TYPE 4: no we can't change everything

·         TYPE 5: our management doesn't have budget

Now let’s define these types:

 

“I want the best solution” type

This type of CTO always wants to acquire the best technology and price is never his top priority. This CTO will always follow the industry trends and ethics. He will be not adapt any short cut to meet the deadline or management’s expectations. They also play a vital role in educating his management as they are usually not technology experts so it is the CTO who guides the real use and worth of the investment in technology in order to achieve the organizational goals and targets.

“Why should I invest so much?” type

These kinds of CTOs generally are the ones who don’t keep them updated with the latest technology. Their perception is that there should not be heavy investments if a cheaper option is available. They are usually those who don’t have a specialized degree or technology background from the grass root level.  They came to this position with their experience and hands on skills. They always find an alternate cheaper option and usually think a short term solution.  In the longer run they might end up in spending more and eventually something that makes it difficult for their organization to compete with their main competitors.

“Give me best price” type

Give me best price type CTOs are the one who run for the prices. They will acquire technology only if it is extremely cheap.  They are more worried about their management’s money that the management itself. Sometimes they are quite successful as the suppliers in the competive world give extremely heavy discounts but their margins are too less and they lose interest in providing the efficient customer service. Another problem with these CTOs is that they expect the heavy discounts from the suppliers to be valid for entire life time.

“No ,we can’t change everything” type

These types of CTOs want to do something but don’t have the courage to adapt the rapid changes of the industry. They are always on the back foot and are in severe pressure from their internal clients. There are many if and buts in their mind and eventually they find that their management is not very happy from them.

“My management doesn’t have budget” type

This type is very close to “why should I invest so much type” but the main difference is that they realize the importance of acquiring latest technology but are unable to convince their management to invest on technology. They are happy with their 9-5 stable job and only get aggressive when some equipment becomes faulty.

Conclusion:

Hope the readers had good time reading but the key is to realize the individual and organizational circumstances. It always easy to criticize as compared to provide the solution and execute it. So I would like to highlight few factors that should be considered no matter what type of CTO you are.

These are below and they are not in any priority sequence

·         Total cost of ownership

·         Scalability

·         Reliability

·         Price

Total Cost of ownership

It is one of the most important factors in decision making as one should realize the overall cost of ownership and not just the deal price. It includes the customer service of the supplier, the power consumption of the equipment, post sales support, replacement policies, warranties, rack space to an extent and many such factors. 

Scalability

The industry and the organizations are always growing so the solution should be selected which is always easy to expand. it is not easy to make the equipment off air and then add the new one , so ideally the equipment should be scalable and that too without going off air.

Reliability

Reliability is again one of the most important factor as this equipment has to be up and running 24x7x365. Down time is not an option as it causes huge revenue loss therefore reliability and performance of the equipment should be considered as a top priority before making the decision.

Price

Price is also the key factor especially in our market. We are heavily burdened by the rising cost and the currency devaluation so ideally the target should be to get the best equipment in the best price.

The above article is written by Sheeraz Adil and will be happy to see your feedback on sheerazadil@gmail.com

DHOOP KINARAY lag gia aur baqi sab DHUWAN ban gaya...

DHOOP KINARAY lag gia aur baqi sab DHUWAN ban gaya.

By Sheeraz Adil

Before I start the article I want to ensure the readers that I have no connection with the content side of the media industry,  all my experience is either technical or sales and marketing therefore the below article is totally my personal judgment and opinion. I am certainly not an expert of this topic but feel so uneasy with the current day’s drama content that couldn't stop myself writing this.

There was a time when 8 pm drama hour was purely for families.  No matter daddy mummy or kids everybody used to sit together and watch our flag ship dramas and somehow there was always a positive outcome or lesson given to the society. 

Or maybe the time has come to watch extremely unethical,  cheap and disrespectful dramas with the family.

I am so sad to write the fact that dramas of today are so harmful for the society...I guess more than a considerable rated movie. Its even more sad when people in the middle of a family gathering say that have you been watching that drama,  its so good, kia Zabardast drama hai and other similar stuff. I can very easily claim that if I ask someone to name any drama which has no extra marital affair, misleading activities, unbelievable disrespectful relationships, nobody will be able to come up with any name. It is even more sad when you find that our own family is discussing these pathetic stories and that too very comfortably

I had been discussing and criticizing the dramas of today and was attacked by the argument that people want to watch this type of content, that is why these drams are made. On that I have a counter argument that 90s percent of the boys likes x rated content but that doesn't mean that Pakistani broadcasters start showing that type of content.

If we say that only these kind of content gets the highest rating then just rethink that drama DHUWAN, DHOOP KINARAY and many others caught the highest number of eye balls even when there was no concept of private TV channels , no cable etc. Such type of content will always be liked if the content creators try to give such positive messages to the society.  Even the recent day drama HUM SAFAR gave the lesson that how kids can become a cause of strong relationship in spite of all differences. 

What I feel is the negative content is being forced on our minds and to change our perception. Could you imagine a family sitting 5-10 years ago and discussing about extra marital affairs?  Even separation was considered to be most discouraged thing. But now its so sad that it is getting so common in the society and we are hearing more and more of this in our real lives.

A friend explained it beautifully that the concept of free media is killed. The launch of private media industry was not to show the disturbing content but to present a soft image of our country. This remains an open question that who should be blamed… the authorities, content creators or the viewers…

I will conclude with the statement that some say that dramas are only the mirror of what happens in the society but in my view society is actually being pushed to follow and adapt that content in their minds and eventually in their daily lives.

In the end I would request you all broadcasters to make the dramas which leaves a positive impression in the mind of viewers, it will be liked and you will still get good ratings.

If you can any comments or feedback , please feel to write on sheerazadil@gmail.com.

To invest or not to invest in automation! by Sheeraz Adil

This article can also be termed as a war between technical and broadcast information technology. In other words it can also be coined as the comparison between a qualified plus experienced engineering versus the unqualified plus experienced engineering.

The objective of this article is to help the decision makers acquire the latest technology in order to improve their workflows and hence the quality of the transmission.

Few points in this article are related to the previous article “An Ideal automation workflow” which covered the basic features of automation and integrated workflow however this one will cover the comparison between the old and new technology and will highlight the significance of the IT based broadcast systems.

All the latest baseband equipments are based on IT; therefore those broadcasters who have IT background staff looking in to their broadcast side are performing exceptionally well. These days the integrated workflow is being followed all over internationally, however people in Pakistan still prefer to have manual setups.

About more than half of the broadcasters in Pakistan think that broadcast automation is only meant to burden the bank accounts of the owners of the TV channels. They think that it is useless to spend that much of amount when the work can be done manually. For them I would like to give an example of travelling between Lahore and Karachi, there are different ways to achieve this, speaking realistically the cheapest would be to travel by road, this will take about 24 hours of hectic road travelling with high risk of accidents as well. The second option is to travel by train which will take half the amount of time but will cost bit more than travelling by road. The most expensive option is to travel by air, it will take around 2 hours of comfortable travelling where you don’t have to spend on the food and at the same time you will be travelling in a safe and clean environment. Now you can obviously understand that what is the opportunity cost involved in taking this decision. God forbid in case of accidents most likely the air travelers will be compensated most. So now compare the same while selecting technology for your channel’s transmission. Full featured news automation will be most expensive however it will help you deliver the best results. You may come across your staff that may resist automation; the main reason is the fear of losing control and more dependency on the machines. In the road travelling example you may find one of your staff who prefers to go by road as he wants to meet one of his friend on his way to Karachi and might want to have food and get it reimburse on a higher value from the organization. I hope by now the reader would be able to judge or at least know the causes of the resistance of acquiring automation.

One of the major advantages of acquiring automation besides the highly reliable transmission is the reduction in the operating cost. Automation requires less human resource for operations. It will also save time and space (by space I mean the hard disk space required for the digital content). A good example is the environment where a data is ingested in one machine and then it is transferred to a central storage manually, from that storage it is transferred to the play out server manually and is deleted by the operator manually. If it is required to air the same content again, the same series of steps will be required and if there are multiple channels of the same organization running the same content then you can imagine the amount of work and time required. So, using automation which is integrated with the central storage, the content once ingested will always be available to the MCR and can be deleted or archived automatically.

Coming to the news environment, a non automated environment will have no integration of the production with the news journalist. In case of a news story the news room system will work in isolation with the PCR and non linear editing. After creating the slug of the story the journalist will physically go to the NLE and ask him to browse the ingested files and then send it to the PCR manually. Then in the PCR the producer will have its news room system open and he will line up the footage manually in a playlist based on that rundown. This will certainly not be the case in the automated environment. The journalist can browse all the content lying in the online archive using his own news room control system and even attached the video file with the story. In the PCR the automation will create the playlist automatically based on the rundown coming from the NRCS. It can also create the graphics rundown related to the stories to be produced and that too… automatically.

I think I am being too technical but I feel that, this explanation is required and should be communicated to all the relevant people.

The main reason is the fear of change and hence technology, I have seen people resisting broadcast automation due to the perception that it will make them lose their jobs. Here we need to correct the perception that when the calculator was invented people didn’t lose their jobs, it provided ease to the accountants. Those who have learnt its operation they didn’t have any issue in their jobs. Similarly automation doesn’t mean that all staff members will be sent home. Those who are willing workers and try to adopt technology they will always be needed by the organizations. And if at the end of the day automation can help in decreasing the operational cost then it means that the investment made to acquire it is worth it. In the TV business the operating cost is more important than the capital. Those who don’t invest in early days to acquire technology, they end up in paying more operating cost after few years.

The choice always remains with the decision makers but in my view the decision should be taken based on the above aspects.

If you have any queries regarding this article, please write to sheerazadil@gmail.com .

What If, We Impose Self Regulation On Our Content- By Bilal Hasan

We are running after TRP’s, busy in acquisitions of foreign content irrespective of what is there in it for an audience, trying harder and harder to leave behind our competitors by developing sensational dramas, stories and news just to lift up audience share and rating but in search of all these we have left far behind the media ethics, social values and national interest
What If, a consortium is made where all the top media companies, content managers, production houses, independent producers/directors, scholars, cable operators and other stake holders develop a new metrics by considering our social values, national interest, norms and values, media ethics and at the same time realizing that Pakistan is an Islamic state and we should not broadcast such content which may deviate us from our culture and values or may harm the thought process of citizens or national interest
The aim of this coalition would be to control such content which is not suitable for the society and to promote such content which brings the entertainment and information along with our ethical values in consideration, broadcast only such information & knowledge which may bring hope in the society and in case of criticism, the boundary must be defined. Any information which may damage the sovereignty of a country should not be allowed. In the race of first and Breaking, if some sort of incorrect news/visuals are on aired, corrective measures must be taken by the consortium. This consortium would not take any legal action against anyone but they must convey the horse mouth feedback to their members. This way altogether constructive change can be brought
CBCCC aims to bring the true and honest feedback from the viewer. This feedback will help the broadcasters review their content, content policies, audience interest and may help them to provide the secondary method of audience measurement so that a healthy & open competition takes place and more and more innovative and creative ideas will be welcomed.
Parental guidance would also be promoted and discussed from this platform and consortium advice a framework for all genres to its members so that all together we can decide what content is suitable for which age, this may help in building positive society.
Also, when all the giants sit together they may be able to control piracy and promote copyright concept, this positive regulation ultimately brings constructive growth in the broadcast industry. Nowadays many of the producers in the name of inspiration copying the foreign content and feel proud on themselves. This consortium may control such activities ultimately support industry in bringing positive growth
For the producers, script writers, directors, investors and content managers, this consortium can provide the information about viewer’s interest, viewer’s feedback and the viewer’s choice. Such useful information may help them in highlighting the issues which audience would like to watch. Awful content must be reported at once so that no one will try to corrupt the competition and the society. There must be a boundary which decides by the platform that what comes under the violence & obscene material.
Finally, the formation of CBCCC may control the content going through cable operators. Options like parental guidance on cable movie channels or content in which the language or the story is not appropriate may be control using this platform, This independent self regulation imposed by the broadcast professional upon themselves help the industry to concentrate on effective journalism and present entertainment in true meaning rather to run after the temporary numbers which does not only corrupt the competition but also ruin the society.
I, Bilal Hasan as a writer will just focus on the points of content regulation and control independent of government. From toddlers to teenage and from teenage till adults, we all are exposed to this virtual instructor who’s constantly impact our lives either intentionally or unintentionally. The more we are exposed to depression, de-motivating, cheap, unethical and dark side of the content the more we welcome the darkness in our lives. So get rid of the darkness by imposing self regulation on our content.
How this consortium works, this discussion would lengthen the article but to give a brief overview of the framework, there will be a panel who outline the boundary and they ensure that ticker is being on aired over the content that " If anyone has any complain regarding the content, please email at CBCCC@xyz.org", this email will be forwarded to the members of the consortium and then upon the complaints, consortium will take steps.
I would be pleased to answer any queries related to the above content. In addition to this your comments will be welcomed at bilal.hasan55@gmail.com.
Together we have to work to bring the change and it’s the responsibility of every stake holder not just the TV channels.

An Overview of the Media(TV) Industry- Global and local Perspective- By Sheeraz Adil

Global Media Giants

Time Warner

Time Warner is the largest media group of the world. This media giant has great names under its belt including CNN, Cartoon Network and HBO. It also has the world largest cinema screens. It also owns largest cable network in the US. It also possesses one of the best studio and production facilities. It also has ownership in comedy central. It is no doubt a global company having more than 200 subsidiaries worldwide. This media giant also runs major theme parks and it also has 150 retail outlets. The world’s famous Sports Illustrated and Time Magazines are also a part of Time Warner.

Disney
Disney is the closest competitor of Time Warner. They shifted their strategy and business model from only theme parks to film production, broadcasting and merchandising. They have now more income from broadcasting as compared to theme parks. Disney Channel has created waves in the home entertainment industry. With their acquisition of ESPN, Disney owns two great channels. Disney is very much active in the toy manufacturing and has an exclusive global marketing deal with McDonalds. Disney also owns world’s most famous theme parks; in addition to this they have several music labels. It also has more than 500 retail outlets worldwide.

Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is the top media company of Europe. It owns few top channels of Germany. Their major income is through the printing and publishing as they own more than 100 magazines. The company also owns more than 15 radio stations in Europe.

Viacom
Viacom is also one of the leading media companies of the world. Its television channel MTV and Nickelodeon has made this company extremely powerful. It also acquired paramount and own theme parks and leading video rental store. It now has more than 15 channels influencing the global viewers.

News Corporation
Fox, Sky, Channel V and Twentieth Century Fox are the names that are a part of News Corporation. All these names have created deep impressions in their genres. It started off with in Australia but expanded in US and later globally. More than 100 newspapers and about 20 magazines are also a part of News Corporation.

Sony
Sony is also one of the leading media companies and has produced many successful music records movies. It acquired Columbia pictures making them the leading entertainment producer of the world. They are also focused in producing video games which differentiates them from other media companies.

History of Electronic Media in Pakistan
National Television-PTV
Usually in every country history of Television starts with the state owned TV channel. In the similar fashion Pakistan Television was launched in 1964. There are 6 channels that are a part of PTVs family. Even after the launch of satellite transmission and the private channels, the reach of PTV is still the most amongst Pakistani viewers due to its territorial coverage.

STN
The electronic media remained under the influence of the government until 1990, and then the first even private television network Network Television Marketing (NTM) was launched by Shalimar Television Network (STN). NTM quickly increased its viewership and became the integral part of the lives of the viewers. Late due to some corruption and financial issues it was closed down and after sometime was re-launched as ATV.

Local Media Giants

ARY
ARY network includes news, entertainment, Islamic, music and cooking channels. The group is not directly related to print but it in the media industry since a long time. It is considered as the first private television network in the new era of private channels regime. The ARY network also manages HBO and Nick in Pakistan.

Jang Group
Jang group needs no introduction, it is owned by Mir Shakil ur Rehman. The major publication of the group is Jung newspaper and The News. Jang newspaper is the highest circulated newspaper of the country. The website of Jang group has most of the times, the highest hits amongst any Pakistani website. It has other print publications including various magazines as well. In 2002 Geo TV was launched which had the content of news, infotainment and entertainment. Later the news channel was separately launched and now the network consists of sports, music and also other international beams.

Dawn- herald
Herald is one of the largest publication companies of the country. The English News Paper Dawn was launched by the founder of the nation and it is the most circulated English newspaper of the country. It also launched an English news channel which was later converted to Urdu channel.

Eye Entertainment

Hum TV is one of the leading entertainment channels is a part of Eye Entertainment. Famous of its dramas Hum TV is the favorite channels of many women of the county. The group also owns a lifestyle channel “style 360” and a music channel “oye”.

Express-Television Media Network
Lakson group has also become a media giant whose major publication is the Express newspaper which has made an impact in a short span of time. Lakson has now two news channels one in Urdu and the other one is English. They also plan to launch an entertainment and music channel.

Interflow Group
Mr. Tahir Ali Khan is the owner of interflow group. Mr. Tahir has been in the advertising industry since a long time. He also played an important role in the first ever private channel of Pakistan, later he with draw his partnership from NTM. Now the group owns two channels one is news channel News 1 and the other one is entertainment known as TV 1.

Rise of Private Channels
In 2002 during the Musharraf regime private channels were given licenses to broadcast the transmission from Pakistan. Therefore it was during that period when the monopoly of the state owned TV channel was challenged. In the initial period the uplink licenses were not issued therefore transmission of private channels were uplinked from outside Pakistan, most of the private channels in this period were operating from UAE, UK and Thailand. Later the permission of uplink was granted and the channels started their transmission in Pakistan.
Private investors most of them who were already associated with the print or any other form of media found this business of TV channels very lucrative and obtained licenses. Since then the media industry in Pakistan is on a high. They are many news, entertainment, music and sports channels which are operated and controlled from Pakistan. The rise of private channels has also created waves in the advertising industry of Pakistan and it has grown immensely.

Licensing Authority

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority is responsible for facilitating and regulating the establishment and operation of all broadcast media and distribution services in Pakistan established for the purpose of international, national, provincial, district, and local or special target audiences.

All broadcast mediums come under the PEMRA therefore all TV channels and radio stations have to get the license from this authority and abide by the rules and regulations. Pemra has different set of restrictions for different types of channels. There is a general code of conduct which is valid of all the TV channels of Pakistan. Besides that Pemra can take actions against any TV channel. Pemra also wants to promote Pakistan and Pakistanis therefore there is a certain restriction for Pakistani channels to show the foreign content.
There are 87 licenses granted to Pakistani TV channels however 5 have been cancelled by the authority. There still remain more than 80 channels and it shows that the market is competitive.

Landing Rights

If a channel is uplinked from abroad and wants to distribute its content in Pakistan then it has to acquire landing rights permission from Pemra. Foreign channels like Ten sports, star sports and others are few which fall under this category.

Satellite TV License

All channels that want to uplink and run their transmission from Pakistan have to obtain the license from Pemra. The channel can broadcast anywhere in the world depending on the respective satellite coverage.

Revenue Model/ Funding

The revenue model of the TV channels consists of the following:

Government funded:
Owned and sponsored by government of a country. All the matters in this form of model are the responsibility of the government of the country. It is also called state television.

Advertising:
Most private channels run TV commercials as their source of revenue. They sell the air time to different companies who want to broadcast their product information to the viewers. The more the viewership of the channel, the higher are the rates of air time. Channels work hard to increase their viewership; this includes hiring the skilled HR who can use their experience and skills to produce the content that is liked by the audience. Once the viewership/TRP increases every company wants to promote its products on the channels that is most watched and once this happens the rate of the air time increases thus creating more revenue for a TV channel.

Licensing/Taxation:
There is a fixed fee from the viewers that is a part of the utility bills. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has the same model. A fix amount is charged as a utility from all the citizens and it is used to run the channel. This is workable for the state television. In this model the channel doesn’t rely on the revenue from advertisements.

Subscription/Pay TV:
The viewer’s subscription commonly known as pay TV is also a model in which TV channels charge a fee from the viewers it is subscribed to. It is applicable in DTH (direct to home) where the viewers can pay and select the channels that want to watch.

Combination of the above:
There can be a combination of the above models. For example, the state television might run commercials as well or a pay TV also sells airtime for commercials thus creating different sources of revenue.

How Television influence our lives
Television has become an integral part of the life. All forms of media create influence on the audience but TV is one of the most successful forms of media. Whatever is seen on the screen resides in the mind of the viewers, whether it is news, entertainment or even commercials, all have a great influence on our lives. It will be difficult to find someone who doesn’t watch TV. People tune in to different channels to watch their favorite program. Based on the target segmentation, TV channels broadcast different types of programs fulfilling the needs of different type of viewers. Children would want to watch stories and cartoons where as women would want to watch cooking program so based on that the content is created.
TV is also one of the biggest medium for marketing. Companies advertise heavily on TV channels to promote their products and strive harder to build their brand image. These promotional campaigns influence the decision makers in buying the products.

Categories of TV Channels
Generally following broad categories exist in TV channels

News
The channel that gives the information about local, regional, national or international events can be termed as a News Channel. This can also be termed as an infotainment channel. In the early days of TV channel there was a specific time when news bulletin was broadcasted having the coverage of important events that happened on that particular date. Today it has changed we have various local and international channels running 24 x 7 giving each and every small or big event that is happening around us.
In Pakistan, the bulletin from the state television was broadcasted at 9 pm and viewers used to wait anxiously now the scenario has changed, there are private news channel that devote all their energies to cover different events and keep the viewers updated all the time.

Sports
Every viewer wants to watch their country’s sports team competing against other teams. Earlier the normal transmission of a TV channel was interrupted when there was an important sports event happening in the world. Today there are specific sports channel that cover international and local sports events. The launch of sports channels has created great opportunities for the audience as well as the marketers.

Entertainment and Life Style
These lifestyle and entertainment channels broadcast the programs which are related to different lifestyle circumstances. Heavy investment is done in production including good looking presenters, sets and locations. Dramas, reality shows, celebrity lifestyles all fall under this category.

Cartoon
Now a days cartoon channels have been very influential. Kids of all age are fond of watching cartoon. This category has seen a significant growth. Many advertisers want to promote their products as kids play an important role in decision making to buy any product.

Science and Discovery
Everyone who watches TV knows about National Geographic and Discovery channels. These channels present documentaries, programs on latest innovations and other useful information.

This article is written and compiled by Sheeraz Adil who is working as Manager Broadcast Operations at Geo TV Network and can be contacted at sheerazadil@gmail.com