CAP’s version: No agreement with Geo for ‘specific spot’
Any such arrangement will be tantamount to discriminatory behaviour with other TV channels, it maintains.
LAHORE:
The Cable-operators Association of Pakistan (CAP) on Thursday informed that there has been no agreement with any channel, including Geo, for running it at a certain number on the list of channels being aired. Any such arrangement will be tantamount to discriminatory behaviour with other TV channels, it maintained.
Advocate Dr Amjad Bukhari, the counsel for CAP, held that the high courts in Punjab and Sindh should dismiss the petitions filed by Geo TV and maintained that no such agreement has ever been made to place a certain channel on a specified position.
He said that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), which runs under government’s control, interferes in the affairs of cable operators and does not allow them to function smoothly.
Bukhari further apprised that under the rules and regulations laid down by Pemra, cable operators are bound to run all the lincenced TV channels. “However, due to the apparatus available with the cable operators being analogue, they cannot run all the TV channels simultaneously.
“Hence, the choice of channels is a matter decided by audiences as to which channel they want to view in their area,” said the CAP’s counsel. He also stated that Geo is misleading the people by running false propaganda against cable operators.
On this occasion CAP chief Khalid Arain stated that Geo TV is running false news to defame the cable operators, if they keep on doing so legal action will be taken against them. He also asked Pemra to take action against the incident where a cable operator’s office was set on fire in Sadiqabad, and urged Pemra to provide security to all licenced cable operators.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2014.
The Cable-operators Association of Pakistan (CAP) on Thursday informed that there has been no agreement with any channel, including Geo, for running it at a certain number on the list of channels being aired. Any such arrangement will be tantamount to discriminatory behaviour with other TV channels, it maintained.
Advocate Dr Amjad Bukhari, the counsel for CAP, held that the high courts in Punjab and Sindh should dismiss the petitions filed by Geo TV and maintained that no such agreement has ever been made to place a certain channel on a specified position.
He said that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), which runs under government’s control, interferes in the affairs of cable operators and does not allow them to function smoothly.
Bukhari further apprised that under the rules and regulations laid down by Pemra, cable operators are bound to run all the lincenced TV channels. “However, due to the apparatus available with the cable operators being analogue, they cannot run all the TV channels simultaneously.
“Hence, the choice of channels is a matter decided by audiences as to which channel they want to view in their area,” said the CAP’s counsel. He also stated that Geo is misleading the people by running false propaganda against cable operators.
On this occasion CAP chief Khalid Arain stated that Geo TV is running false news to defame the cable operators, if they keep on doing so legal action will be taken against them. He also asked Pemra to take action against the incident where a cable operator’s office was set on fire in Sadiqabad, and urged Pemra to provide security to all licenced cable operators.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2014.