PEMRA takes notice of banned entertainment channels

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) chairman Dr Abdul Jabbar while taking notice of the issue expressed concerns on closure of some entertainment channels on cable networks.

In a statement issued, the chairman said that some licensed cable operators have reportedly blocked the channels owing to a dispute between Cable Operators of Pakistan (CAP) and few members of Pakistan Broadcasting Association (PBA).

In the meantime, some reports claims that the cable operators have jammed these channels as a protest against a ban on Indian entertainment channels, which they are pushing the PEMRA to restore for quite sometimes now.

PEMRA chairman urged all the stakeholders to resolve their grievances amicably by holding a joint meeting. Meanwhile, CAP has been asked to restore the transmission of closed channels.

Some of the country’s most popular entertainment channels, including ARY Digital, GEO Entertainment, HUM TV, Express Entertainment, TV ONE and KTN Entertainment are unavailable to several million households.

PBA has authorized its members to take legal action against PEMRA and the cable operators who they say have caused millions of rupees in losses per day to the entertainment industry.

PBA members also feel that there are political affiliations that may be behind a move to financially constrain the media industry, so that free and fair election coverage cannot be guaranteed by Pakistan’s private media.

Moreover, PBA also said that such gagging tactics were being used to plunge the broadcasters into crisis so that they could not render transparent coverage of the upcoming elections.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=35084

Posted by Web Desk on Nov 17 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.