29-11-2004

Pakistani Business Channel Faces ‘Bullish’ Problems

via www.business-standard.com

What does one call a stock exchange ‘bull’ in Urdu? This is just one of the many problems which Pakistan’s only business channel Business Plus is facing ever since it was launched in August this year.

The Lahore head-office of the channel also has to constantly justify its area of operation in a city whose stock exchange has a sensitivity index based on only 25 listed companies.

The satellite channel, only the second of its kind in South Asia (Sri Lanka being the other country), is owned by World Corp Multi Media Ltd, headed by telecom czar Salman Tasir.

The company is relying on the fact that it is Pakistan’s largest cable network with a 65 per cent footprint in the country to sell the channel, besides the 33 telecom companies that come under World Corp…