Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, and National Heritage (IBNH) Secretary Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui highlighting the importance of Pakistan Television (PTV), directed the channel’s management to put all its energies towards meeting the challenges of contemporary television.
In an introductory meeting with PTV management and professionals here Thursday night, the secretary, who recently assumed the charge of his office, vowed to revive the past glory of the state television channel and make it a more vibrant body.
He recalled the time when viewers in India preferred PTV programmes over their own films due to their quality.
PTV Chairman Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi and his team briefed the secretary about working of the organization and its professional requirements.
He asked the PTV administration to streamline its financial matters and always go by the book, underlining the need for taking appropriate measures to explore new avenues for income generation and achieving self-reliance.
The secretary said there should be an effective internal audit mechanism to ensure transparency, clarifying that there was no room for any leak in the financial system of the organization.
He said that the PTV needed to have a competent marketing director to help improve its financial health, adding that in today’s corporate world an effective strategy was required to tackle challenges and compete in the market.
The secretary directed the submission of a PC-I within three days for equipping PTV with modern gadgets and state-of-the-art broadcast facilities, so that it could effectively compete in the world of mushrooming media houses.
He suggested the PTV management to prepare standard operating procedures (SOPs) and have them approved from its board of directors to keep day-to-day matters running smoothly.
The secretary acknowledged the literary services of PTV Chairman Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi and his ambition to make PTV a stronger and professional state entity.
He was of the view that PTV should evolve a strategy to increase the number of its viewers by broadcasting quality entertainment, sports, and current affairs programmes, coming up to the expectations of the general public and the youth. “Adopt the way to capture market and viewership. You have to make a new beginning,” he remarked.
He advised that good writers should be encouraged, so that they could produce quality work and re-telecast evergreen old dramas of PTV to sensitize the new generation about standards and quality of programmes the PTV used to telecast for viewers education.
The secretary said that PTV should also play its due role in effective projection of the development projects being carried out by the government for welfare of the common man in every nook and cranny of the country.
