The Road to Glory..

Pakistan television industry formally started in 1964 with the commencement of the very first television channel i.e. Pakistan Television Network (PTV). At that time, the only objective of the industry was to provide education, information and some sort of entertainment to the viewers. Till 1988, the industry was out of any sort of competition but PTV hit by competition of another channel namely Network Television Marketing ( NTM ) which was the first ever private sector channel and soon got popularity due to its plays and music shows. The whole television industry took and enormous move due to the inception of cable operators in Pakistan. More and more international channel started reaching the viewers. This gave boost to the business activity relative to media industry and in the years 2007, 2008 rain of Pakistani channels was witnessed. Now the number of Pakistani channels has reached up to 81. This rapid increment in the number of channels has raised the problem of the competitiveness of electronic media in Pakistan. New and upcoming channels are using vast resources in order to gain popularity and sometimes they do not take into account the boundaries which define the effective aspect of electronic media. Now the question arises whether this intense competition is catering to the customer’s needs and demands or not. Whether the competitiveness of electronic media relates to customer satisfaction and if the answer is yes, then which way , positive or negative.Broadcast Television is going through an extraordinary time of change and challenge. It is still one of the most popular forms of entertainment and information, with the average Pakistani viewer still watching 81 different national channels and international channels, twenty hours or more per week. But the rapid growth of the internet and interactive media is competing strongly for audiences and revenues generated by the media industry. The emergence and evolution of the TV industry has been recognized, as more and more channels are entering the industry. The role of industries comprising media industry has been deeply observed. The entire process from the content creation till the delivery has been scrutinized and compared to the expectations of the general audiences. Further the content analysis provides details on what and how the content is ultimately viewed by the customers. The unique customer demands and viewing habits is also a huge contributor in bringing new forms of channels distribution. They are also a reason which is further compelling peripheral industries to bring about changes in how they operate and make financial deals. Such emerging and rapidly changing trends of the media industry help us to discover the loopholes that are prevailing in our industry and how much they can improve to be more competitive and more profitable.

Written by: Farhan Shamir