Tag: Pemra

Pak penalises three TV channels

MUMBAI: It is a season of penalties against television channels — in India and the neighbouring country. Pakistan last week suspended the licences of two TV channels for allegedly levelling baseless allegations against the judge of its Supreme Court.

Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) last Saturday took the action against Din News and Neo TV, and fined them PKR 1 million each. Similarly, Such TV was fined Rs 1 million for airing inappropriate comments of a caller against a judge during a live program, Pakistani newspapers reported.

PEMRA suspended the licenses of Din News for 30 days and Neo TV for seven days. In a statement, it said the suspension will come into effect from the first of the next month. The channels will also telecast an apology after resumption.

The three channels were issued notices on 19 November for airing irresponsible analysis and were asked to submit a reply on 26 November, 2016. Channel representatives failed to defend themselves.

November 28, 2016
Pak penalises three TV channels

MUMBAI: It is a season of penalties against television channels — in India and the neighbouring country. Pakistan last week suspended the licences of two TV channels for allegedly levelling baseless allegations against the judge of its Supreme Court.

Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) last Saturday took the action against Din News and Neo TV, and fined them PKR 1 million each. Similarly, Such TV was fined Rs 1 million for airing inappropriate comments of a caller against a judge during a live program, Pakistani newspapers reported.

PEMRA suspended the licenses of Din News for 30 days and Neo TV for seven days. In a statement, it said the suspension will come into effect from the first of the next month. The channels will also telecast an apology after resumption.

The three channels were issued notices on 19 November for airing irresponsible analysis and were asked to submit a reply on 26 November, 2016. Channel representatives failed to defend themselves.

November 28, 2016
Pak DTH licence bidding stayed

MUMBAI: The Lahore High Court reportedly stayed the DTH licence bidding process till a decision on petitions challenging PEMRA rules governing licences is taken.

A bench headed by Justice Ayesha A. Malik issued the order suspending the DTH (direct-to-home) licence bidding process scheduled for Wednesday, Dawn reported.

The decision was taken on similar applications filed by the Independent Newspaper Corporation and others.

The bench had already heard the main case against the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) rules on DTH service licences and reserved its judgement.

Some media companies had questioned the rules terming them discriminatory. They accused PEMRA of not allowing local broadcasters to participate in the bidding. PEMRA had opposed the petitions arguing that a broadcaster could not be a distributor of its own content. It would be a conflict of interests, PEMRA stated.

Cable operators strike off

The Cable Operators Association on Tuesday called off its strike following discussion with the minister of state for information Marriyum Aurangzeb and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association.

COA president Khalid Arain said the government had assured them that their concern over DTH licences the issue would be addressed.

PBA supports cable operators

Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) chairman Mian Amir Mehmood has said that a joint committee would negotiate the terms regarding DTH with the government. He said that DTH was unfair to the cable industry and the Pakistani channels.

If the reservations of Pakistani channels and the cable industry were not resolved, it was also decided in the meeting, the PBA members will not allow PEMRA to telecast its channels on the DTH. The PBA has also assured the cable operators of its support in case of retaliation by PEMRA, the News reported.

Cable channels subsequently reopened throughout Pakistan.

Also read

Cable TV suspended in parts of Pakistan; Senate okays DTH plan

PEMRA announces DTH licence bidders; Indian DTH eviction to continue

November 23, 2016
Pak DTH licence bidding stayed

MUMBAI: The Lahore High Court reportedly stayed the DTH licence bidding process till a decision on petitions challenging PEMRA rules governing licences is taken.

A bench headed by Justice Ayesha A. Malik issued the order suspending the DTH (direct-to-home) licence bidding process scheduled for Wednesday, Dawn reported.

The decision was taken on similar applications filed by the Independent Newspaper Corporation and others.

The bench had already heard the main case against the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) rules on DTH service licences and reserved its judgement.

Some media companies had questioned the rules terming them discriminatory. They accused PEMRA of not allowing local broadcasters to participate in the bidding. PEMRA had opposed the petitions arguing that a broadcaster could not be a distributor of its own content. It would be a conflict of interests, PEMRA stated.

Cable operators strike off

The Cable Operators Association on Tuesday called off its strike following discussion with the minister of state for information Marriyum Aurangzeb and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association.

COA president Khalid Arain said the government had assured them that their concern over DTH licences the issue would be addressed.

PBA supports cable operators

Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) chairman Mian Amir Mehmood has said that a joint committee would negotiate the terms regarding DTH with the government. He said that DTH was unfair to the cable industry and the Pakistani channels.

If the reservations of Pakistani channels and the cable industry were not resolved, it was also decided in the meeting, the PBA members will not allow PEMRA to telecast its channels on the DTH. The PBA has also assured the cable operators of its support in case of retaliation by PEMRA, the News reported.

Cable channels subsequently reopened throughout Pakistan.

Also read

Cable TV suspended in parts of Pakistan; Senate okays DTH plan

PEMRA announces DTH licence bidders; Indian DTH eviction to continue

November 23, 2016
Cable TV suspended in parts of Pakistan; Senate okays DTH plan

MUMBAI: Cable operators have suspended their services in different areas of Pakistan after unfruitful dialogue with the government on the postponement of Direct-To-Home (DTH) licences to be auctioned tomorrow.

Around three million consumers use Indian DTH, and the government plans to eliminate it through local facilities and save about PKR 24 billion in capital flight to India. Estimates of DTH users range from 70,000 to 2.5 million with most of them concentrated in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi.

Cable services in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Gujarat and Multan have been suspended. In Balochistan’s capital Quetta, however, cable TV was still running, Pakistani newspapers reported.

Pakistan’s Senate panel on information, broadcasting and national heritage has asked Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to proceed with its decision to launch an indigenous Direct to Home (DTH) television system.

Opposing the move, operators started suspending their services in various parts following their complete strike call from Monday evening. Cable Operators’ Association staged a protest at the press club announcing closure of the services.

The Senate meeting, chaired by senator Kamil Ali Agha, was informed by PEMRA chairman Absar Alam that it held successful meeting with the operators and decided that Pakistani DTH would be launched in November 2017 giving them time for system upgradation. Still, they announced shutdown of cable, he added.

Alam said that operators had no problem with illegal Indian DTH and demanded to lift ban on Indian content. But, they want the PEMRA DTH plan abolished which was unconvincing. Alam said PEMRA had taken concrete steps to stop Indian content and Indian movies on the cable.

Earlier, finance minister Ishaq Dar reportedly refused to agree to operators’ demand and decided that the DTH auction will be held as per schedule on Wednesday. The successful bidder however would start its operation from November next year.

Not budging from their positions, operators are now likely to go on strike for an indefinite period. Cable Operators Association chairman Khalid Arain, on 15 November, said that DTH launch was not justified since the cable operators invested billions in converting the analogue cable system into the digital one. Arain said they needed at least three years to create awareness among the people about cable digitalisation.

Unlike the analogue connections, DTH service is a digital platform that transfers channels directly into homes from satellite through small dish antennas. The service is reliable and allows consumers to view high-definition video. The quality of channels at the end on the bandwidth does not diminish such as those on cable.

Also read

Pak to award three DTH licences on 23 Nov; Chinese, UAE companies also in fray

November 22, 2016
Cable TV suspended in parts of Pakistan; Senate okays DTH plan

MUMBAI: Cable operators have suspended their services in different areas of Pakistan after unfruitful dialogue with the government on the postponement of Direct-To-Home (DTH) licences to be auctioned tomorrow.

Around three million consumers use Indian DTH, and the government plans to eliminate it through local facilities and save about PKR 24 billion in capital flight to India. Estimates of DTH users range from 70,000 to 2.5 million with most of them concentrated in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi.

Cable services in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Gujarat and Multan have been suspended. In Balochistan’s capital Quetta, however, cable TV was still running, Pakistani newspapers reported.

Pakistan’s Senate panel on information, broadcasting and national heritage has asked Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to proceed with its decision to launch an indigenous Direct to Home (DTH) television system.

Opposing the move, operators started suspending their services in various parts following their complete strike call from Monday evening. Cable Operators’ Association staged a protest at the press club announcing closure of the services.

The Senate meeting, chaired by senator Kamil Ali Agha, was informed by PEMRA chairman Absar Alam that it held successful meeting with the operators and decided that Pakistani DTH would be launched in November 2017 giving them time for system upgradation. Still, they announced shutdown of cable, he added.

Alam said that operators had no problem with illegal Indian DTH and demanded to lift ban on Indian content. But, they want the PEMRA DTH plan abolished which was unconvincing. Alam said PEMRA had taken concrete steps to stop Indian content and Indian movies on the cable.

Earlier, finance minister Ishaq Dar reportedly refused to agree to operators’ demand and decided that the DTH auction will be held as per schedule on Wednesday. The successful bidder however would start its operation from November next year.

Not budging from their positions, operators are now likely to go on strike for an indefinite period. Cable Operators Association chairman Khalid Arain, on 15 November, said that DTH launch was not justified since the cable operators invested billions in converting the analogue cable system into the digital one. Arain said they needed at least three years to create awareness among the people about cable digitalisation.

Unlike the analogue connections, DTH service is a digital platform that transfers channels directly into homes from satellite through small dish antennas. The service is reliable and allows consumers to view high-definition video. The quality of channels at the end on the bandwidth does not diminish such as those on cable.

Also read

Pak to award three DTH licences on 23 Nov; Chinese, UAE companies also in fray

November 22, 2016
Pak to award three DTH licences on 23 Nov; Chinese, UAE companies also in fray

MUMBAI: Twelve companies have been shortlisted by PEMRA to bid for the award of three DTH licences on 23 November which is anticipated to fetch around US$400 million. Initially the authority will issue license for a period of 15 years, which will be extended as per agreement.

No TV channel would be allowed to be a part of the licence directly. The base price for the bid offering was PKR 20 million.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority is expecting indirect and direct investment of PKR 4194 crore (INR 2720 crore) through bidding of Direct to Home licenses during the next three years. PEMRA officials said the body will open the bidding process at the PEMRA headquarters to give away three licenses, for which 12 companies including Chinese, Russian and UAE firms out of 16 had been selected, Pakistani newspapers reported.

The short-listed companies are:

Mag Entertainment Lahore

Orient Electronics Lahore

Skyflix Islamabad

Startimes Communications Islamabad

Smart Sky Islamabad

Sardar Builders Islamabad

Parus Media and Broadcast Islamabad

Naya Tel Islamabad

Shahzad Sky Islamabad

Maestro Media Distribution Islamabad

HB DTH Islamabad

IQ Communications Karachi

PEMRA had fixed the price of DTH service box PKR 2,500 to PKR 3,000 and its subscription fee will be only PKR 550 a month.

Countrywide, this decision is forecast to create 1,500 direct and 15,000 indirect employment opportunities. PEMRA officials said DTH had captured maximum 25 per cent market while the rest was being served by digital cable suppliers.

There are around three million consumers, using Indian DTH, and the government aims to eliminate it through local facilities and save about PKR 24 billion in capital flight to India.

A PEMRA official said that a Chinese firm was keen to establish a company in Pakistan to manufacture set-top box for DTH and digital cable TV. The Pakistani cable market is primarily analogue, and the most of the operators have not adequately invested in upgrading their networks.

Cable operators in Pakistan had launched an anti-DTH campaign. The Cable Operators Association had staged a protest last week against the DTH bidding. Association chairman Khalid Arain said that the PEMRA chairman had assured the association that PEMRA would not launch DTH in the next two years, warning it to stop the bidding or face the consequences.

Meanwhile, Christian Post reported that PEMRA had banned all 11 Christian TV channels airing in the country and arrested at least six cable operators for defying the order.

PEMRA does not grant landing rights for religious content, allowing the airing of Christian messages only for Christmas and Easter.

However, the Christian channels had been operating for over 25 years. PEMRA has now formally labelled the Christian channels as illegal, the Post reported quoting UCAnews.

November 19, 2016
Pak to award three DTH licences on 23 Nov; Chinese, UAE companies also in fray

MUMBAI: Twelve companies have been shortlisted by PEMRA to bid for the award of three DTH licences on 23 November which is anticipated to fetch around US$400 million. Initially the authority will issue license for a period of 15 years, which will be extended as per agreement.

No TV channel would be allowed to be a part of the licence directly. The base price for the bid offering was PKR 20 million.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority is expecting indirect and direct investment of PKR 4194 crore (INR 2720 crore) through bidding of Direct to Home licenses during the next three years. PEMRA officials said the body will open the bidding process at the PEMRA headquarters to give away three licenses, for which 12 companies including Chinese, Russian and UAE firms out of 16 had been selected, Pakistani newspapers reported.

The short-listed companies are:

Mag Entertainment Lahore

Orient Electronics Lahore

Skyflix Islamabad

Startimes Communications Islamabad

Smart Sky Islamabad

Sardar Builders Islamabad

Parus Media and Broadcast Islamabad

Naya Tel Islamabad

Shahzad Sky Islamabad

Maestro Media Distribution Islamabad

HB DTH Islamabad

IQ Communications Karachi

PEMRA had fixed the price of DTH service box PKR 2,500 to PKR 3,000 and its subscription fee will be only PKR 550 a month.

Countrywide, this decision is forecast to create 1,500 direct and 15,000 indirect employment opportunities. PEMRA officials said DTH had captured maximum 25 per cent market while the rest was being served by digital cable suppliers.

There are around three million consumers, using Indian DTH, and the government aims to eliminate it through local facilities and save about PKR 24 billion in capital flight to India.

A PEMRA official said that a Chinese firm was keen to establish a company in Pakistan to manufacture set-top box for DTH and digital cable TV. The Pakistani cable market is primarily analogue, and the most of the operators have not adequately invested in upgrading their networks.

Cable operators in Pakistan had launched an anti-DTH campaign. The Cable Operators Association had staged a protest last week against the DTH bidding. Association chairman Khalid Arain said that the PEMRA chairman had assured the association that PEMRA would not launch DTH in the next two years, warning it to stop the bidding or face the consequences.

Meanwhile, Christian Post reported that PEMRA had banned all 11 Christian TV channels airing in the country and arrested at least six cable operators for defying the order.

PEMRA does not grant landing rights for religious content, allowing the airing of Christian messages only for Christmas and Easter.

However, the Christian channels had been operating for over 25 years. PEMRA has now formally labelled the Christian channels as illegal, the Post reported quoting UCAnews.

November 19, 2016
PEMRA announces DTH licence bidders; Indian DTH eviction to continue

MUMBAI: The countdown has begun. Amidst protests from cable TV operators and even private broadcasters, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) earlier this week announced the shortlist of 12 companies which will be participating in the bidding for the first direct to home service (DTH) licences auction which is scheduled to take place on
23 November. The Pakistan government is on a drive to evict Indian channels, DTH services and content from its shores following the border skirmishes between the two countries over the past few months.

Among the firms which have got into the shortlist include: Lahore-based firms Orient Electronics and Mag Entertainment, Islamabad-based companies Skyflix, Smartimes Communications, Sardar Builders, Smart Sky, Parus Media and Broadcast, Naya Tel, Maestro Media Distribution, Shahzad Sky, and HB DTH and Karachi-based IQ Communications. This was revealed by PEMRA chairman Absar Alam.

Alam told reporters that the auction of three licences would be held through open competitive bidding.

Alam appeared unwavering in his intent to completely eliminate all Indian DTH services from Pakistan. The authority has been urging its ministry of defence to take action against residential and housing societies which continue to use Indian DTH services.

He also emphatically stated that Indian content stands banned in Pakistan, and there was no going back on the decision.

“A lobby seems to be working for ending the ban on airing of Indian content and dramas on Pakistani channel,” he informed Pakistani media on Monday. “But they will be unsuccessful in their conspiracy,” he said.

Alam probably was also referring to the petition filed by the Pakistan Broadcasters Association’s (PBA’s) petition filed in Pakistani courts against the ban. Around a dozen broadcasters took PEMRA to court late last month for issuing an order banning Indian content completely from Pakistan’s general entertainment channels.

Also read:

Pakistan Broadcasters Association to oppose PEMRA Indian content ban

November 16, 2016
PEMRA announces DTH licence bidders; Indian DTH eviction to continue

MUMBAI: The countdown has begun. Amidst protests from cable TV operators and even private broadcasters, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) earlier this week announced the shortlist of 12 companies which will be participating in the bidding for the first direct to home service (DTH) licences auction which is scheduled to take place on
23 November. The Pakistan government is on a drive to evict Indian channels, DTH services and content from its shores following the border skirmishes between the two countries over the past few months.

Among the firms which have got into the shortlist include: Lahore-based firms Orient Electronics and Mag Entertainment, Islamabad-based companies Skyflix, Smartimes Communications, Sardar Builders, Smart Sky, Parus Media and Broadcast, Naya Tel, Maestro Media Distribution, Shahzad Sky, and HB DTH and Karachi-based IQ Communications. This was revealed by PEMRA chairman Absar Alam.

Alam told reporters that the auction of three licences would be held through open competitive bidding.

Alam appeared unwavering in his intent to completely eliminate all Indian DTH services from Pakistan. The authority has been urging its ministry of defence to take action against residential and housing societies which continue to use Indian DTH services.

He also emphatically stated that Indian content stands banned in Pakistan, and there was no going back on the decision.

“A lobby seems to be working for ending the ban on airing of Indian content and dramas on Pakistani channel,” he informed Pakistani media on Monday. “But they will be unsuccessful in their conspiracy,” he said.

Alam probably was also referring to the petition filed by the Pakistan Broadcasters Association’s (PBA’s) petition filed in Pakistani courts against the ban. Around a dozen broadcasters took PEMRA to court late last month for issuing an order banning Indian content completely from Pakistan’s general entertainment channels.

Also read:

Pakistan Broadcasters Association to oppose PEMRA Indian content ban

November 16, 2016