Pak television staff won’t have Turkish soaps
21 Dec 2012 8:01 AM IST
Setting aside their traditional animosity towards Indian serials, Pakistan's television artistes and producers are up in arms against Turkish soaps that have taken over the airwaves and triggered fears of a downturn in the domestic industry.
The artistes and producers are not only feeling insecure, they are irked by local media groups like Geo and Express, whose news channels are not covering their protests because their entertainment channels air the popular Turkish soaps.
A sizeable number of TV artistes, producers and directors turned out for protests outside the Lahore Press Club and in other parts of Punjab province yesterday and on Thursday.
Many complained that the Turkish productions, which are dubbed at a fraction of the cost of producing a Pakistani serial, could sound the death knell for the domestic industry.
Over the past few months, the Turkish serials have garnered massive followings and generated huge revenues for some entertainment channels.
The news channels initially covered protests and gave space to people who claimed that the Turkish serials were spreading obscenity in Pakistan society, but of late there has been little coverage of the demonstrations as most media groups are airing the imported soaps.
Media analysts have contended that despite the marked differences in Pakistani and Turkish societies, the Turkish serials have been accepted in Pakistan as they are set in an Islamic milieu and feature Muslim characters. Several new Turkish soaps were launched by at least three Pakistani channels last week, most of them featuring romantic storylines.
However, Pakistani artistes and producers, already worried by the amount of time devoted by channels to Indian productions, have argued that the government should introduce regulations for foreign programming.
The theme for most of the recent protests has been ‘Save the Pakistan television drama industry.’ ‘We demand that Turkish and Indian content dubbed in Urdu should be taken off the air in Pakistan immediately,’ said TV artiste Maria Wasti.
She claimed it was the government's duty to take steps to protect the interests of the domestic industry as was the practice in other countries.
The artistes and producers are not only feeling insecure, they are irked by local media groups like Geo and Express, whose news channels are not covering their protests because their entertainment channels air the popular Turkish soaps.
A sizeable number of TV artistes, producers and directors turned out for protests outside the Lahore Press Club and in other parts of Punjab province yesterday and on Thursday.
Many complained that the Turkish productions, which are dubbed at a fraction of the cost of producing a Pakistani serial, could sound the death knell for the domestic industry.
Over the past few months, the Turkish serials have garnered massive followings and generated huge revenues for some entertainment channels.
The news channels initially covered protests and gave space to people who claimed that the Turkish serials were spreading obscenity in Pakistan society, but of late there has been little coverage of the demonstrations as most media groups are airing the imported soaps.
Media analysts have contended that despite the marked differences in Pakistani and Turkish societies, the Turkish serials have been accepted in Pakistan as they are set in an Islamic milieu and feature Muslim characters. Several new Turkish soaps were launched by at least three Pakistani channels last week, most of them featuring romantic storylines.
However, Pakistani artistes and producers, already worried by the amount of time devoted by channels to Indian productions, have argued that the government should introduce regulations for foreign programming.
The theme for most of the recent protests has been ‘Save the Pakistan television drama industry.’ ‘We demand that Turkish and Indian content dubbed in Urdu should be taken off the air in Pakistan immediately,’ said TV artiste Maria Wasti.
She claimed it was the government's duty to take steps to protect the interests of the domestic industry as was the practice in other countries.
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