PTV to start two new channels

A sports channel and a new channel for children under 16 will be launched

ISLAMABAD :  

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) would start two new channels.

Chaudhry said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would launch two new PTV channels -- one dedicated for sports and the other for the children under the age of sixteen.

The current PTV Sports would be dedicated to broadcast cricket only and would be renamed as PTV Cricket.

Meanwhile the new sports channel would broadcast all other sports/ games such as hockey, kabadi, tennis, and squash among others.



Chaudhry wrote on Twitter, “We have decided to launch two new channels of PTV, a dedicated Sports Channel to cover all sports except Cricket and present PTV Sports shall be rebranded as PTV Cricket. A dedicated Channel for Children under sixteen.... All suggestions welcome…”

The previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government also made an effort to launch two new PTV channels: PTV Parliament to give live coverage of National Assembly, Senate proceedings along with committee meetings and PTV Kids.

The PML-N government had also planned to convert PTV Global to a children’s entertainment channel which was supposed to be the country’s first ever official TV channel that caters to children.

The idea behind this channel was to create awareness among children about their national heritage, culture and provide useful information through entertainment shows/dramas.

However, work on the project only continued till the tenure of the PML-N came to an end and now there are no updates on it after the new government has taken the charge.

Though the announcement about launching these two channels by the previous government came as a surprise to many who were already worried about the financial crunch the PTV is currently facing.

It is because PTV’s revenues are gradually declining every year and it has become difficult to meet the expenses within limited resources.