For decades, Pakistan Television shaped what prime-time drama looked like in this country. Its studios produced stories rooted in social anxieties, moral dilemmas, and everyday lives,\u00a0from the socially conscious serials of the 1970s to the classics of the 1980s and 1990s that still circulate on YouTube and in collective memory. Today, however, as private channels dominate ratings and digital platforms measure success in billions of views, a familiar question has resurfaced: what went wrong with PTV, and can it find its way back?<\/p>\n
For many industry veterans, the problem is not a lack of resources but a lack of direction. Actor Javed Sheikh, speaking to\u00a0The Express Tribune, rejected the idea that PTV has fallen behind because it cannot compete technically. \u201cPTV has everything,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have equipment, you have sources. Rawalpindi, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar,\u00a0every centre has infrastructure. Like they used to make dramas before, they can do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Sheikh, what\u2019s missing is leadership and intent. \u201cA cultural minister should come, a new MD should come, a chairman should come,\u00a0someone who changes the whole scenario,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very simple.\u201d He also pushed back against the argument that the industry has run out of strong writers. \u201cThe dramas being watched today on private channels\u00a0and digital platforms are getting billions of views,\u201d he pointed out. \u201cSo where are the writers coming from?\u201d<\/p>\n
In his view, audience acceptance is already being proven elsewhere. Pointing to recent projects such as\u00a0Jama Taqseem,\u00a0Paamal,\u00a0Case No. 9, and work by director Nadeem Baig, Sheikh argued that compelling stories still resonate. \u201cIf society didn\u2019t accept these stories, they would flop,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they\u2019re popular. That\u2019s the rating.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, Sheikh acknowledged that creative ambition cannot be separated from financial reality. \u201cToday\u2019s dramas are made in five or ten crores,\u201d he said. \u201cPTV has to raise its budget. Big actors and writers won\u2019t come if they aren\u2019t paid.\u201d Even so, he maintained that the state broadcaster still holds an advantage few others do. \u201cThe resources PTV has, no private channel has them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actor Behroze Sabzwari offered a more sombre assessment, describing PTV as an institution slowed down by its own systems. \u201cPTV has been made to sit at home like an old man,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has been destroyed by bureaucracy.\u201d Recalling his visits to PTV Karachi, Sabzwari painted a bleak picture. \u201cWhen I enter the studios, I literally cry. The corridors are empty. The infrastructure is number one,\u00a0but unused.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also pointed out that much of today\u2019s private television industry is staffed by people trained at PTV itself. \u201cEven today, heads of departments in private channels are people trained at PTV,\u201d he said,\u00a0a reminder\u00a0that the problem is not talent, but how it is being used.<\/p>\n
Others caution against viewing PTV solely through the lens of decline. Actor-director Yasir Hussain challenged the tendency to\u00a0measure the channel against its past. \u201cIf we only remember the dramas of the 70s, 80s and 90s, then we should just run them and call it Nostalgia TV,\u201d he said at a recent event.<\/p>\n
Hussain argued that PTV still enjoys the widest reach in the country through terrestrial broadcast, but fails to use that advantage meaningfully. \u201cThe drama slot with the biggest audience is not being treated seriously,\u201d he said. \u201cTRP can be generated anywhere.\u201d He also questioned why quality continues to lag despite the facilities available. \u201cWe shoot on location, in heat, without facilities,\u201d he said. \u201cPTV has air-conditioned studios. They can make dramas twenty times better.\u201d<\/p>\n
From within the organisation, PTV officials say the criticism overlooks the channel\u2019s broader mandate. Responding to concerns, PTV General Manager Amjad Shah said the broadcaster\u2019s role goes beyond commercial entertainment. \u201cPTV is a national channel. Our responsibilities are different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shah pointed to ongoing and upcoming projects, including\u00a0Babu Ki Dulhanniyan, new plays by Asghar Nadeem Syed, Ramadan transmissions, religious programming, and large-scale concerts featuring artists such as Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Zafar, and Atif Aslam. \u201cWe are working according to today\u2019s trends, while staying connected to our traditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Shah acknowledged that commercial pressures have reshaped creative decision-making.\u201cEarlier, directors had complete freedom,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, casting and glamour are dictated by sales. That\u2019s where creativity suffers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actor and writer Bushra Ansari highlighted another loss in this transition: music. \u201cPTV has a treasure of music,\u201d she said. \u201cIt hurts that it couldn\u2019t be used properly.\u201d Actor Hiba Bukhari, meanwhile, offered a more pragmatic reading of the industry. \u201cProducers invest in what sells,\u201d she said. \u201cOnly 20% of audiences want something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed to projects such as\u00a0Kabli Pulao\u00a0on\u00a0Green Entertainment\u00a0and\u00a0Case No. 9\u00a0as proof that unconventional stories can still work,\u00a0but only when producers are willing to take risks. \u201cThe producer has to be daring,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As debates around budgets, bureaucracy, and creative freedom continue, PTV finds itself caught between legacy and reinvention. The infrastructure exists, the talent has not disappeared, and the audience is still there. What remains uncertain is whether the institution can move quickly \u2014 and boldly \u2014 enough to meet a present that no longer waits for nostalgia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For decades, Pakistan Television shaped what prime-time drama looked like in this country. Its studios produced stories rooted in social anxieties, moral dilemmas, and everyday lives,\u00a0from the socially conscious serials of the 1970s to the classics of the 1980s and 1990s that still circulate on YouTube and in collective memory. Today, however, as private channels …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":742,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions\/742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}