News
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
PEMRA denies ordering private channel’s suspension
LAHORE: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Monday refuted media reports that the government had directed it or the cable operators to suspend transmission of a private satellite channel.
The authority, in a press release, clarified that neither it nor the government had issued orders to close the transmission or put the channel on a disadvantaged position in the transmission list. It stated that acting on the complaint of Independent Media Corporation Pvt Ltd, chairman PEMRA had personally spoken to the office-bearers of various cable operators associations and told them to restore the transmission of the affected channel, which went off the air on October 10. Legal notices had been served on all those operators who were involved in the suspension of transmission.
The statement read that PEMRA had been taking strict measures to ensure uninterrupted distribution of all the licenced TV channels on cable TV networks. Various meetings had been held with all the stakeholders regarding carriage and channel positioning. The authority reaffirmed respect for Supreme Court’s orders and vowed to comply with them in letter and spirit.
The press release observed that a meeting was held on this issue on October 4, during which all the cable operators were instructed to ensure carriage and positioning of all major satellite TV channels at their rightful position in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court. They were asked not to disturb placement of any channel till the finalisation of carriage and placement policy. PEMRA had also proposed a meeting of all stakeholders and a letter had been sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in this regard on October 7, asking it to devise a mutually acceptable policy on carriage and placement of channels on distribution networks. pr
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk