Lion’s share: World Cup generates almost half of PTV revenue in 2010-11

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 fetched more than double the cumulative income from the past three ICC tournaments aired.

ISLAMABAD:

The ICC Cricket World 2011 generated almost half of the total revenues of the state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) during the financial year 2011, according to an official document.

PTV’ total revenue stood at Rs2.4 billion in 2010-11, of which Rs1.1 billion or 45 per cent was generated by the World Cup 2011.

The state-owned channel’s managing director Yousaf Baig Mirza said the situation was bleak when he took over in October 2010 as the network was Rs300 million short of its sales target. “We lost no time and acted immediately to take remedial measures to bring the organisation back on its feet”, he remarked.

The managing director personally met major advertisers and addressed their concerns and reservations.

The revenue is more than double the cumulative income from the previous three ICC tournaments aired by the PTV. The World Cup 2009 yielded Rs200 million, T20 World Cup 2010 fetched Rs175 million and the ICC Champions Trophy 2010 made the network Rs130 million.

He said a strategy was evolved to maximise revenues through proper planning, strategic goal setting and ensuring swift implementation.

He said steps have been taken to check unnecessary expenditure, which can be witnessed as administrative expense decreased by Rs250 million. Asked to identify the core areas of corruption, he said excessive medical bills and overtime were the problematic areas.

He said signal quality, distribution through cables and positioning were improved to attract both viewers and advertisers. The look and feel of PTV Home has been re-shaped and modernised, he added.

The induction of fresh colours, glamour coupled with market driven content will bring new revenue stream, he said. PTV Home’s successful makeover will be mirrored soon to PTV News, PTV Global and PTV National. Answering a question about the 46 percent increase in the salaries of PTV employees, he said the increase in salaries given after two years will have a total impact of Rs600 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2011.