Pak channel Urdu 1 to be launched in the Kingdom

Well-known Pakistani entertainment channel Urdu 1 will be launched in Bahrain by mid-2016. Speaking to DT News yesterday, GM Urdu 1 and Head of Scripted Programming Nina Kashif said that with similar religious and social structures, the media content being produced in Pakistan was expected to find a vast audience in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

“We are looking forward to working with the media houses in Bahrain and to produce content which would further strengthen our commonalities and establish new connections,” she elaborated.

She said that both the Pakistanis and the Bahrainis were bound together with rich historical and religious bonds. 

“The prospects for a channel in Bahrain are quite exciting and needs to be further explored. With the rapid growth of media in Pakistan, there is a vast avenue for mutual sharing of content between the media houses in both the countries,” she noted.

She said that Urdu 1 was the fastest growing entertainment channel along with the ARY and Hum TV as competitors. It is among the top four Pakistani entertainment channels in the highest rating category.  

Commenting on the market, Kashif said the market for Urdu 1 would be interesting as they had three types of content – Pakistani drama, Turkish drama and Indian drama.

She informed that they were also sponsoring fashion week from this year onward. Pakistan Fashion Week is a very big event that has been held annually in Karachi since 2009.  

“We are also considering organising one big international fashion week by mixing a bit of Arab culture and Pakistani and Turkish and Indian cultures altogether,” she revealed.

Kashif also said that soon they would be doing films from here. It was their channel that started Turkish software in Pakistan and they were the trendsetter by running Turkish dramas like “Ishq e Mamnoo” with the highest rating.

“Bahrain has a market for everyone. Rich in culture, every kind of food, entertainment, perhaps that is why the people like to call it their home and the channel can benefit from this situation,” the GM of the channel added.