President ARY Network Salman Iqbal says our agenda is to work for the betterment of Pakistan
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00:00Now we have with us the President and CEO of ARY Network, Salman Iqbal.
00:06Salman Iqbal, thank you so much for joining us.
00:09First of all, I would like to congratulate you on completing 24 years.
00:14Now tell us, it has been such a long journey.
00:1724 years of ARY Network.
00:19How was this journey?
00:22Assalam-o-Alaikum.
00:26In this journey, a lot of people like you were with us.
00:33When good people are with you, good viewers, good explainers,
00:39then the journey is already very good.
00:4124 years have passed.
00:44I won't say that I didn't know.
00:48I remember every day of 24 years.
00:52And all the ups and downs that we have seen,
00:56it has become a memory of 24 years.
01:00For Pakistan and for Pakistanis.
01:03And for us.
01:05Salman, because everyone wants to know,
01:10a lot of people want to do a lot.
01:12You, at that time, when a channel starts from an office in London,
01:18did you have any idea that this network would be so successful?
01:23And today, Mashallah, there are so many ARY channels.
01:26And how many are going to go, not only in Pakistan, but outside Pakistan.
01:30In fact, we see that a lot of appreciation is coming from India as well.
01:33So at that time, did you foresee this?
01:36You know, Sadaf, if I say this,
01:41I thought that InshaAllah, we will become very big.
01:43We will reach this level.
01:47People will say that you have become so big now.
01:51When I started TV, at that time, Indian channels had a lot of wealth.
01:55There was a lot of wealth in the UK and there was a lot of wealth in the world.
01:59And those Indian channels were spread out.
02:01Sony, Star, Zee.
02:03These three channels were spread out.
02:05And they had no competition with us.
02:07We were very small in size economically and wealth-wise.
02:12I remember once I was sitting in a lounge.
02:15The CEO of all the news channels, Zee, Sony,
02:19we all started together in London.
02:24The UK feed.
02:25Our first was their UK feed.
02:28So when I told them in a paper that
02:32InshaAllah, we will launch music channels,
02:35we will do sports, we will do entertainment,
02:37we will do this, we will do that.
02:39We will finish the hybrid channel and expand it.
02:43I remember they used to laugh at us.
02:45They used to say, who will watch your TV?
02:47All Pakistanis watch our TV.
02:50The first six years were really tough for us.
02:53Because there was a lot of competition with them.
02:56Because they had a lot of resources.
02:59We had very little resources.
03:00Pakistan was very behind in technology.
03:02Our cable networks were not established in Pakistan.
03:07Now look, our dramas, our news,
03:11our culture in Pakistan,
03:15especially in dramas,
03:16everyone is copying it now.
03:19And I am telling you,
03:20in India, our viewership is at a very high level.
03:22Alhamdulillah.
03:25So Mr. Salman, tell us one thing.
03:26When the journey started 24 years ago,
03:28you must have been very young at that time.
03:31Maturity comes with age as well.
03:34How did you have so much clarity at that time?
03:36Especially, you belong to a business family.
03:38You had no experience of a TV channel.
03:40What will happen in the future?
03:41How will it be?
03:42So how did you make it possible?
03:44Because obviously, there is an opinion in it
03:46that what are you going to do?
03:47Will it be successful in the future or not?
03:49People say this to the family as well.
03:51How did you have so much clarity and maturity at that time?
03:55Arshad, this was also the case at that time.
03:58All the old, experienced media companies
04:04and other people,
04:06they all used to say
04:07that they will just make money
04:11and after a year or two, they will shut down.
04:15And when we used to listen to this,
04:18we used to get more clarity,
04:22more strength and more courage.
04:26When someone used to say to you that you can't do anything,
04:29then how did a person think that
04:31okay, then I will do it.
04:34This thing is very necessary in our country now.
04:39We used to say that Pakistan is now a failed state.
04:43Pakistan will now declare bankruptcy.
04:46It is the first nuclear state that will declare bankruptcy.
04:50Now the time has come for the nation
04:52to prove the world wrong.
04:56So it was the same with us.
04:58So at that time, we had decided in our mind
05:02that when they want us to fail,
05:04then we will succeed.
05:06And I remember when it was our 10th anniversary of AIY,
05:11we were not growing.
05:13So our CEO from Pakistan, JG Seja, came to me.
05:17He said, Salman, it's been 10 years.
05:19What gift do you want from me?
05:21But he meant what I should give you personally.
05:24So three months ago, I said,
05:26JJ, I want to be number one.
05:29So I started laughing.
05:31I said, boss, I am talking about a personal gift.
05:33I said, no, I don't want a gift.
05:34I want to be number one.
05:37And today, Alhamdulillah, by far,
05:40we are the top two TV stations in the country.
05:43By far.
05:44Entertainment is number one.
05:45In the news, we were fighting for one or two kills.
05:49And when you get that clarity in your mind
05:52that you have to work for your country,
05:56when you decide what your agenda is,
06:00our agenda was only Pakistan.
06:02And there were Pakistanis who were all over the world.
06:05Our agenda, our strategy, our focus was very clear
06:10that we don't want to work for anyone other than Pakistan.
06:13And when you hold on to such a big thing,
06:17then Allah also supports you.
06:20Of course, your nature supports you.
06:22And I am most thankful to my viewers
06:26for tolerating our mistakes from the beginning,
06:29our foolishness, our foolishness,
06:33tolerating all of it,
06:35and taking us forward.
06:37And even today, I say that today there is ARY.
06:41Today there is Pakistan, so there is ARY.
06:43Without Pakistan and Pakistan, ARY is nothing.
06:47Mr. Salman, especially if we talk about the news,
06:51our political structure,
06:53the political changes,
06:55the ups and downs,
06:57the economic situation,
06:59we faced a lot of difficulties.
07:01Many times our channel was shut down.
07:04We had to face restrictions.
07:06But we remained steadfast.
07:08So what was your trust, your strategy,
07:12what were the reasons for which,
07:14despite all these difficulties,
07:16ARY is still carrying out its duties in the same way?
07:21When you speak the truth,
07:25you will be scolded.
07:30And there will be a risk of shutting down.
07:34We have been shutting down since the time of Musharraf.
07:38And I have made a complete list.
07:41In almost 24 years,
07:46we have shut down 313 places.
07:50In some cities.
07:52I am counting the total.
07:54We have shut down 313 places.
07:56For a few hours, for a few days,
07:58in some cities.
08:00Once, during the time of Musharraf,
08:02we shut down the whole of Pakistan.
08:04And we shut down for about 56 or 53 days.
08:07Many times we have shut down because of you.
08:10I mean,
08:12our industry,
08:17I was just talking about it at the GAB.
08:19I was saying that Pakistan's news industry
08:23is very exciting.
08:27We have never been idle.
08:30I don't remember a day in 24 years
08:34where we haven't broadcast any breaking news.
08:37No news.
08:39Yes, no news.
08:41If you ask the news team,
08:44we have given so many breaking news
08:47in so many months, so many years,
08:49in so many 24 years.
08:51We have given so many thousands,
08:53lakhs of breaking news.
08:55So this is a part of it.
08:57Without a doubt, we understand, sir.
08:59Yes, and
09:01we say that
09:03shutting down means
09:05in the television industry,
09:07that you have fallen to the ground.
09:09It is a different feeling to fall and get up.
09:12It is a different feeling to fall and get up.
09:14It is a different thing.
09:16Because when you fall and get up,
09:18you have already looked down so much
09:20that when you stand up,
09:22it feels like you are touching the clouds.
09:26And I will say again,
09:28for our Pakistanis,
09:30that without their support,
09:32ARY is nothing today.
09:37Okay.
09:38Thank you so much,
09:40Mr. Salman Iqbal,
09:42for being with us.
09:44It is a joyous occasion.
09:4624 years have passed.
09:48God willing, this journey will continue like this.