MD PTV Mohammad Malick has refused to accept his extension as Managing Director PTV for another two years as his contract is set to expire on 28th February 2016. Sources privy to the information revealed that the incumbent government was pressuring Malick to accept an extension at PTV as long as he agreed to share executive powers with the recently appointed Chairman of PTV, Mr. Ata ul Haq Qasmi who is a close confidant of the Sharif’s.
Mr. Malick refused his extension and in a public announcement at PTV Employees Union Charter gathering said that he would not be continuing as the Managing Director of PTV as sharing executive powers with the Chairman would dilute the authority of the Managing Director and would bring the management in conflict. The Employees Union at PTV lauded the efforts of Mohammad Malick to transform Pakistan Television and has improved things at PTV.
“I have worked with all Managing Directors at PTV; however Malick Sb has transformed PTV beyond recognition. For all those blaming the Management for whatever vested interests, I would like to say that if it is a crime to change the look of PTV news, then we want such crimes to be repeated again, if it is a crime to improve the ratings of PTV, then we want such crimes to keep taking place.
[junkie-alert style=”grey”] If looking after the interests of the employees is a crime then Malick sb should continue with this,” Jahangir Khan, from the PTV Employees Union said at the Employees Charter gathering yesterday. [/junkie-alert]
It is pertinent to mention that under Malick’s tenure PTV News ratings improved to the top 6 channels from being 11th when he took charge, PTV home in top 4 channels on cable and satellite that was rated 15th in 2013 PTV Sports at number 1 in ratings from being 3rd when he took charge.
Mohammad Malick has also been responsible for the regularisation of staff, modernization and revamp of the PTV finance department, revised HR rules and regulations and debts worth Rs3b were cleared. Islamabad News Centre has also been completely transformed under his tenure with state of the art studio and latest equipment. All the channels graphics and logos have been changed as well.
So many colleagues cried when I left that I was left speechless and humbled. Will never forget that. Love you guys and proud of your work 🙂
— Mohammad Malick (@MalickViews) February 28, 2016
Recently Mohammad Malick also announced the introduction of biometric scanning for employees. He has also been responsible for securing all media rights for all important international sports events of cricket, football and tennis, including ICC T20 World Cup, Asia Cup, and PCB rights for five years, English Premier League, German Football League and Rio Olympics 2016.
[junkie-alert style=”grey”] The most significant step that Malick took in his tenure was the opening up of PTV News current affairs programming where people from opposition political parties were regularly appearing to give their point of view on political and national issues. [/junkie-alert]
Just before announcing that he would not be continuing as Managing Director, Malick also announced that they have locked business of Rs1b for Asia Cup and T20 World Cup with this financial year being the most successful in the history of PTV.
Also Read: Ata ul Haq Qasmi Becomes Chairman PTV
Sources privy to the developments that took place claimed that Ata ul Haq Qasmi wanted to snatch executive powers from Mohammad Malick to pave way for his son Yasir Pirzada to sell drama’s, soaps and serials to PTV. With Malick at the helm, Mr. Qasmi knew that this would prove to be a hard task.
[junkie-alert style=”grey”] Sources further revealed that Mr. Ata ul Haq Qasmi has been in touch with Chinese Officials that had previously attempted to bribe Malick worth millions of US dollars and will be finalizing and securing deals with them for digitization. [/junkie-alert]
Malick had previously snubbed the Chinese officials attempting to bribe him for securing the rights of the digitization deal. A former ISPR official who was later transferred to PTV, Colonel Hasan Imad Mohammadi is now said to be facilitating the Information Minister and Mr. Qasmi to set the grounds for loot and plunder in the organization. Mr. Malick had recently removed Mr. Hasan from the position of Director Admin and Personnel despite pressure from the Information Ministry. Ironically Colonel Hasan has served with the Military Dictator President Parvez Musharraf in his media cell as well. It is also expected that Director Programming Shakir Uzair will in all possibility be given an extension to facilitate Mr. Qasmi in ensuring that his son can sell substandard dramas and serials to PTV. Intriguingly both Mr. Hasan and Mr. Uzair are also members of the drama previewing committee at PTV.
[junkie-alert style=”grey”] It is pertinent to mention that Mr. Qasmi has no previous experience in running a media organization and it is now expected that a dummy Managing Director will be instated at PTV. [/junkie-alert]
It has also been alleged that the Information Minister, was not in favour of giving ‘unfavourable’ voice to opposition members who were regularly invited on PTV current affairs programmes, however Mr. Malick refused to budge and supported the PTV staff in ensuring their presence in current affairs shows as well.
Owais Tohid, veteran journalist who has served with BBC and AFP, who was heading PTV World also submitted his resignation following Mr. Malick’s announcement of stepping down as MD PTV.