Beating Pakistan’s TV news Blackout

“They have been selling like hot cakes,” says Saboor, a satellite dish dealer in Islamabad.

Saboor runs an electronic goods store in the Pakistani capital’s upmarket Jinnah Super market.

Items on sale include satellite dishes and decoders for receiving private and international channels.

Satellite dishes were quite popular in Pakistan during the early and mid-1990s, but since the advent of cable television their sales had declined drastically.

That was until the enforcement of emergency rule by General Musharraf on Saturday.

Among measures imposed was a strict crackdown on private local and international news channels.

This has been done by preventing cable operators throughout Pakistan from carrying the broadcasts.

‘Inside story’

But shutting off the supply has not curbed the demand.

Last Updated: Thursday, 8 November 2007, 17:51 GMT
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Beating Pakistan’s TV news blackout
By Syed Shoaib Hasan
BBC News, Islamabad

Pakistanis are proving inventive at getting round the news ban.

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“They have been selling like hot cakes,” says Saboor, a satellite dish dealer in Islamabad.

Saboor runs an electronic goods store in the Pakistani capital’s upmarket Jinnah Super market.

Items on sale include satellite dishes and decoders for receiving private and international channels.

Satellite dishes were quite popular in Pakistan during the early and mid-1990s, but since the advent of cable television their sales had declined drastically.

That was until the enforcement of emergency rule by General Musharraf on Saturday.

Among measures imposed was a strict crackdown on private local and international news channels.

This has been done by preventing cable operators throughout Pakistan from carrying the broadcasts.

‘Inside story’

But shutting off the supply has not curbed the demand.

My stock has been emptied within four days - the demand has more than doubled
Saboor, satellite disk dealer

Information-starved Pakistanis, now addicted to talk shows and breaking news, have resorted to other avenues.

They were quick to turn to satellite dishes.

“We just couldn’t stand not knowing… especially after the emergency was announced,” says Faisal, an Islamabad resident.

Faisal, who works in an advertising company, bought a “dish antenna”, as it is known locally on Monday.

“All my family are avid Geo fans… we must watch Dr Shahid,” he says. “And after all, we have to know what is going in our country, especially after the emergency.”

Dr Shahid Masood hosts a popular current affairs programme on the private Geo TV channel. He is not the only one with a loyal following.

Kamran Khan and Hamid Mir also attract big audiences on Geo with similar shows, as do Talat Hussain on Aaj TV and, to a lesser extent, Asma Shirazi at ARY TV.

Geo and Aaj both broadcast from Dubai and so can still be seen around the world, but not in Pakistan - unless you have a satellite dish.

“We all want to know the inside story,” says Arsalan Mateen, a manager at a multinational company in Islamabad.

The most popular way to do that seems to be with satellite dishes.

“Before the emergency we would have three to four orders a month,” says Saboor.

“Now my stock has been emptied within four days - the demand has more than doubled.”

Saboor says he has called for more stock and has had to put several orders on hold.

Websites

Satellite dishes, however, are not the only alternatives that have been embraced by Pakistanis since the ban.

“The first thing I do once I get into office is check out the news websites,” says marketing manager Shariq Bukhari.

“Dawn, The News and of course bbcnews.com are the best,” he explains.

Dawn and The News are two of Pakistan’s largest-selling English-language dailies.

This website, BBC news in English, is an increasing favourite among young Pakistanis. Visits to the site from Pakistan rose more than fivefold after the emergency.

But most popular among the websites is the BBC’s Urdu-language news site, bbcurdu.com. Its traffic from Pakistan has roughly doubled since Saturday.

Meanwhile, in rural areas, the BBC’s Urdu language radio broadcasts remain the most popular source of information.

FM radio news has been banned. But the Urdu service can still be heard on medium and short wave.

“Rural people prefer to listen to BBC Urdu broadcasts, even when TV is available,” one observer points out.

Blogs

Pakistanis outside the country have also been desperate for news since the blackout was enforced.

Many of these have turned to blogs and news websites.

Huma Yusuf, a graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), says most Pakistani students in the US are glued to the BBC and Dawn sites.

“Blogs are also popular, especially teeth.com.pk/blog, globalvoices.online and sajaforum.org,” she says.

“A lot of the people over here are keen to get the news… we’ve been terribly worried about what has been happening back home.”

The Pakistan government knows its citizens have been getting around the bans.

After news of the boom in satellite dish sales got around, dealers were warned by local police to keep sales down. In some areas, shops were also forcibly closed.

The government is also considering placing a ban on the broadcast of certain channels within the country.

But such measures are quickly being side-stepped by the public and media outlets.

All the private TV channels have now put web broadcasts on their sites with live feeds. Blogs and independent websites are also increasing their content.

Given the demand, it appears to be a losing battle for the authorities.

“There should be regulations of some kind on the content,” says Mr Bukhari.

“But they can’t ban information… it’s just not possible any more.”

– By Syed Shoaib Hasan

Popularity: 2% [?]

Perhaps they can serve as a role model for the American sheeple.

I think now a days online tv is very popular in Pakistan. They cannot pay anything, because their is no money people have.