Salman Iqbal, President and CEO of the ARY Digital Television Network, speaks about the vast changes sweeping through Pakistan’s television and media market.

Some background:
When launched in 1997, ARY was the first private television network and has been a key force in modernizing Pakistan’s television. The network operates out of Dubai Media City.

The website Pakaffairs.com said about ARY:

This channel has truly brought and depicted the media democracy of Pakistani origin where “everything goes” is the name of the game. Face to face hearty debates, sharing views and opinions openly, exposing issues of political nature, cleverly created political parody and comedy are the crux of this channel. Give it two thumbs up!

Iqbal himself is unencumbered with a traditional media outlook to his business: Prior to running the television station, Iqbal was involved in other businesses within the ARY group, including treasury, gold and jewelry, asset management and property.

The Interview:

IPTV remains distant for Pakistan
Due to Internet penetration and cost of cable vs broadband:
$3.50: Cable, monthly subscription.
$600: Broadband, monthly subscription (for shared connection that only reaches broadband speed sometimes)

But TV has opened up
When the Dubai-based ARY launched Pakistan’s first private TV station there were no competitors. Now there are more than 50 stations run by about 20 companies. ARY itself has 13 channels, including domestic production and international stations, such as HBO, Nickelodeon and Fashion TV.

Thanks in part to China
Cheap TVs produced in China have increased the number of televisions from 9 million a few years ago to more than 22 million television sets today.

But making money is tough
Almost all of Pakistan’s TV is delivered by cable operators, but with just $3.50 per monthly from subscribers, the cable companies do not share their revenue with the television broadcasters. The 90 plus channels available over cable (some pirate) are delivered for free to major urban centers. Outside major urban centers subscribers can only get 10 stations.

ARY’s satellite solution
Creating a direct-to-home service along the lines of Sky or Malaysia’s Astra is the solution that Iqbal sees ahead. The dish (the size a a dinner plate) and will be free to the customer, subsidized by monthly subscription cards bought by customers.

The challenge: The Government Legislation
The biggest challenge to moving ahead is convincing the government to open up for the media, Iqbal said. “The government was built on the media’s back and now the government says it was destroyed because of the media. We are saying the solution government needs to be media friendly.”

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