AudiencScapes

By Javed Mahmood16 June 2010KARACHI, Pakistan --The United States is providing financial support for a locally-produced children's television channel, Ambassador Robin Raphel, The U.S. coordinator for civil assistance to Pakistan, said. The channel is intended to be a culturally-appropriate conduit for educational information. “We have recently signed an agreement with the Lahore-based Rafi Peer Company  that would run the channel,” Raphel told a gathering of Karachi-based editors and anchors. The company is run by Usman Pirzada, his wife Samina Pirzada, and other well-known show business veterans.

By Javed Mahmood10 May 2010KARACHI, Pakistan --DawnNews, Pakistan’s first English-language news and current affairs TV channel, is starting to show gradual improvement in its performance after three years of financial troubles since launching in March 2007, according to executives at the channel. They said the decision to add four hours of Urdu-language service helped boost viewership and commercial revenues.Mubashar Zaidi, the channel’s news director, said, “We have now decided to launch a separate and full-fledged Urdu channel in 2010 to capture maximum viewership and commercial business.”DawnNews suffered low ratings and less-than-expected income from its commercial business, Zaidi said, despite a reputation for breaking news coverage and high-quality content.

By Javed Mahmood30 April 2010KARACHI, Pakistan -- Brisk expansion in Pakistani satellite television over the past few years is likely to shift to rapid shakeout soon amid widespread financial strains, shrinking news source options for people in the country, industry insiders predict. "Mushrooming growth of channels, devaluation of the rupee, and rising costs of fuel and equipment have thrown most of the channels into deep financial crisis," said Ilyas Shakir, CEO and founder of Dhoom, a Karachi-based Urdu channel. A total of 83 licenses for satellite TV channels have been issued, including about 38 for news and current affairs channels (including regional new outlets). Around 65 channels are currently operating, up from only 16 in December 2005.

By Jeremiah Sam & Kwami Ahiabenu, penplusbytes.org15 March 2010Accra, Ghana- An active youth media culture exists in Ghana, providing young people with many options for entertainment, social interaction and gathering information on a number of topics-health, education, sports, music, job opportunities, and more. Here we provide a sectoral rundown of youth-oriented media and communication: PrintAmong the nearly 50 newspapers nationwide, youth gravitate toward newspapers and magazines focusing on entertainment, gossip, fashion, comics, health, beauty, sports, new technologies and music. Newspapers popular among youth include The Graphic Showbiz, Jive, Fylla and Profile, while the magazines Ovation and Agoo are also popular.