ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday said Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the high-definition transmission of Pakistan Television on August 4.
Responding to a query in the Senate during the Question Hour, the minister said PTV News had been upgraded to HD, PTV Home partially while PTV Sports will be converted in the next six months through a public-private partnership.
He said successive governments hired 1,800 daily wagers in the state broadcaster and later regularised their employment. They were being paid Rs320 million a month, causing financial imbalance to the organisation.
He expressed the hope from the next year PTV will not charge license fees.
Since 2018, the performance of the broadcaster has improved and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government will turn PTV into the profitable organisation it was once.
In a written response, Fawad said that the government had not allocated Rs200 billion for the project and in 2018, a public sector development programme-funded project — modernisation of camera and production equipment of Pakistan Television Corporation — was approved with an estimated cost of Rs555.59 million.
The project was being executed by procuring equipment through competitive bidding and the establishment of a letter of credit.
HD or 4k?