So while everyone is blaming Cable TV operators for the blockage of Entertainment channels. The story is really not simple at all :) , Today I had a chat with my local cable friend and what he revealed was not only astonishing but disappointing as well  since the story is kinda complex , I will try to explain it in a different style and try to make it as easier as possible. So here you go ….

The year  is 1995 , There are only 3 TV channels which people can watch. PTV, PTV2 and STN. It’s the time when there is no internet and no Cable; however with the advent of DISH Antenna, the Indian channels make their place in Pakistani households. While Dish gives a lot of channels , the problem is, the common man cannot afford it.

Somewhere in the slums of Karachi, lives an ambitious guy named Majid khan. Majid has 2 sons, sardar khan and Faisal khan (who will play a key role in the later part of the story). Majid comes up with a small idea of introducing cable TV, Takes loan from the bank, Buys the equipment and starts his cable TV business with some 5-6 channels in his local neighborhood. He sets a monthly Price of 200 RS for every connection. With time his business grows   , he adds more channels and is making enough money to send his sons to school.

The year is 2001; Majid’s cable network has become a giant now ,holding 30% of Karachi. However Majid has aged. So he retires and passes the business to his eldest son, sardar khan, Sardar Khan is educated, intelligent and holds a degree in management, Sardar realizes that, even though his father was ambitious, he did not have the resources to run this network professionally, Sardar khan starts making allies, he talks to the other small cable operators, buys their network and start expanding aggressively. He turns this small mom and pop business into a Giant enterprise and Call it “MPC Cables”. MPC Cables starts expanding, and very soon MPC acquires 80% of Karachi. The slums, The posh, The remote areas, all comes under MPC, In short 80% of Karachi only watches the channels which MPC wants them to watch.

With his business flourishing, Sardar Khan decides to join Politics, and leaves MPC. Enters Faisal Khan. Faisal Khan is sharp, crooked, and intelligent businessman, unlike Sardar, Faisal has zero Business ethics. He is money hungry, greedy and wants to run this enterprise only to make money. Faisal Realizes that he is sitting on a Gold mine, having a degree in marketing, Faisal Khan realizes that he can take advantage of the untapped advertisement area and show local community business ads as a ticker on the Indian channels like star plus, Sony and colors. To explain how the ads look, here is a crappy image: P that I took from a cell phone.

To his astonishment, Faisal discovers that the maximum revenue he makes from the ads are the ones displayed on Indian channels. He is making as much as 9 million ( 90 LAC ) Pakistani RS a month from each channel only.

By 2006 Pakistani Media is also growing. Lots of new TV channels have started HUM, ARY, GEO entertainment, TV one, all these channels have started to create a buzz and all of a sudden, the demand of Pakistani Dramas is increasing. And people are reverting back to Pakistani Dramas. Not to forget that all these channels are being shown in the household through MPC Cables in Karachi.

Meanwhile Sardar Khan, who had joined politics establishes an institution called, PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority) , not only that Sardar khan also makes an association of Cables operators all across Pakistan. Where they establish that all the cable operators, let it be MPC in Karachi or City cables in Lahore will work in conjunction and have their own rules.

The year is 2011. Pakistani Dramas are flourishing and are being watched by many all over Pakistan, however their only obstacle is Indian Channels, which are still loved and watched by many in Pakistan , starplus, colors all are being televised thanks to the local cable operators.

So what these channels do is, they file a petition against Indian Channels in the supreme court and say that Since the telecast of these channels are unlicensed , they should be banned from the Local TV cables , this will also discourage Indian shows and programs in Pakistan and will support Pakistani Media.  Their Petition is approved and Pemra is asked to block all the Indian Channels on TV Cables.

So what happens to Faisal Khan: P? , The crude and evil businessman? :)  Faisal Khan gets fumed over his monthly loss, but since the order is from Supreme Court, He could not do anything. So he waits for the right time and the right time was near.

The year is 2012  . After getting all the Indian channels blocked, Pakistani Channels play a crooked game. They buy the Indian show content through a proper license, and start airing it on their channels.. haha :) aya na maza , Ary starts showing Big Boss, Hum TV shows Utran, Tv One and Geo show other Indian dramas as well.

Faisal Khan gets furious and comes up with an evil plan. He un tunes the Pakistani Entertainment Channels from MPC Cables, making 80% of Karachi unable to watch Entertainment channels, hence entertainment channels losing a huge amount of money. So it is Faisal Khans 9 million  VS   TV Channel’s billions .

With the help of his Brother Sardar Khan and Cable TV operator association Faisal Khan blocks Entertainment channels where ever he can. Hence making TV channels shift their shows, dramas and depriving the TV lovers from their favourite shows.

So this is the real story behind. TV channels are equally responsible for the blockage, since they wanted to cash on the success of Indian Shows and make money as well. To be honest, at the end of the day, it’s not about entertainment. It’s about greed of money and power. Who wins in the end is another topic. But it’s clearly the awam, who are at a loss. Who kehtey hain na kay 100 sunar ki aur 1 lohar ki. So the Lohar( Faisal Khan) ney apni chaal chal di hai.. Dekhna yeh hai kay abb TV channels kya kertey hain :)

PS: Sorry for such a long post, but I tried to make it as easier as possible for the readers.

Disclaimer: The names used in this post are only to make the narration easier for the Readers and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.