Pakistan’s government has approved Rs. 2.8 billion for PTV English News revival, sparking outrage in media circles over past failures, alleged misuse of funds, and fears of another costly flop.
By Imran Malik – Editor MediaBites
ISLAMABAD — The corridors of Islamabad’s media circles are abuzz again. After years of failed attempts, Pakistan Television Corporation (PTVC) is set to receive a staggering Rs. 2.829 billion for its long-promised PTV English News revival, a project that many industry veterans see as déjà vu, not disruption.
The funding, approved this week by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) under Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, comes with an official promise to enhance broadcast quality, expand global reach, and build a financially self-sufficient English-language news channel. The ECC has instructed PTVC to craft a business plan aimed at reducing its historic dependence on federal bailouts.
History Repeats in High Definition
This is not the first time PTV has marched under the banner of “international narrative building.” In media boardrooms from Karachi to Lahore, journalists recall the overnight launch of Asia One, an earlier English news experiment that, despite imported talent and lofty vision statements, fizzled into irrelevance.
A more recent cautionary tale is the failed revival of PTV World under senior anchor Syed Talat Hussain earlier this year. Brought in as a media advisor with a significant budget and an ambitious plan, Hussain resigned in just six weeks, unable to deliver the turnaround the government had hoped for. The project, once pitched as a strategic tool to counter global misinformation, collapsed under the weight of excessive staffing plans, bureaucratic resistance, and outdated infrastructure.
Despite bold presentations and promises of shifting operations to a new location, the channel never relaunched in the envisioned form. The government quietly shelved the rebranding effort, and PTV World continues to limp along, bloated and ineffective.
The Rs. 2.8 Billion Question
Critics fear the newly approved PTV English revival could follow the same doomed trajectory. Ambitious presentations, recycled branding (“old wine in new bottles”), lavish spending on studios and consultancies, and two to three years of budget burn, before the inevitable fade-out.
“Until you dismantle PTV’s hollow structural foundation,” said a senior media consultant, “no amount of money can make it competitive internationally. You can paint the façade, but the cracks will still show on screen.”
The Talat Hussain episode stands as a stark warning. If a high-profile journalist with direct government backing could not overcome PTV’s entrenched inefficiencies, critics argue, there is little reason to believe that a Rs. 2.8 billion injection will suddenly fix decades of mismanagement. Without structural reform, this so-called revival risks becoming yet another costly broadcast of the same old story, with taxpayers left to pay the price.
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