Indian channels may be back soon
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_19-2-2004_pg7_7
By Hasan Mansoor
KARACHI: Pakistan may soon permit cable operators to show Indian satellite channels again as a goodwill gesture marking the current secretary-level talks between the two South Asian nuclear neighbours.
“We have indications from some official channels and are still waiting for a formal announcement on the ban being lifted,” said Tahir Khan, vice president of the Cable Operators Association of Pakistan (COAP), on Wednesday. He said Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had not told them when it was going to lift the ban.
The Indian satellite channels were banned in Pakistan after the two countries closed their diplomatic offices and cut rail, road and air links after an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001. More than 20 channels were affected, including Star, Zee and Sony networks. Some officials in Islamabad, who asked not to be named, told Daily Times the government had no objection to lifting the ban on Indian channels dedicated to family entertainment. In the second phase, they added, the cable operators could even relay Indian news channels.
“The growing ties between the two neighbours have convinced the government that the Indian news channels will not be hurling propaganda against Pakistan, as they did a couple of years ago,” the official said. “PEMRA will be announcing fresh guidelines for the cable operators pretty soon,” another official said. “Pakistan and India have restored their traditional communication links and the two want to go even further in this direction,” the official said.
Cable operators say they suffered badly during the 26-month ban. “We won’t broadcast Indian news and propaganda channels but the government should lift the ban on entertainment channels. They are popular with Pakistanis and can help the cable operators continue their business,” Mr Khan said.
“Most of our clients do not understand English and other foreign languages,” he said. Subscriptions to cable TV was falling rapidly for lack of Indian channels, he complained. According to Mr Khan, the cable operators’ business had dropped 40 percent. Since the ban was imposed on December 30, 2001, cable operators had been pleading for permission to relay Indian “no-news” channels. Last year, cable operators across Pakistan stopped showing five news channels — CNN, BBC, ARY, Geo and Indus News — in protest.
Mr Khan said there were at least 400 cable operators in businesses in Karachi before the ban, but now because of the sharp decline in their clientele, high business costs, taxes and police harassment, their number had decreased to 273. Of the 972 in the rest of Pakistan, the number had plummeted to 110, he added. Most cable operators had to merge their businesses to reduce costs, while others switched over to more profitable businesses, Mr Khan said.
Many foreign channels and new Urdu channels replaced the banned channels and the cable operators were hoping that these channels had the potential to become popular in Pakistan. But this did not happen. “Banning TV channels is not a good precedent,” said Mustafa, a newspaper vendor in downtown Saddar.