ATV, Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Company Islamabad

SRBC- Shalimar Recording & Broadcasting Company Limited. ..
Shalimar Recording & Broadcasting Company Ltd. (SRBC), is an unlisted public limited Company, incorporated in 1974. Currently it is a recording and broadcasting company with 20 ATV stations in the urban centers of Pakistan.

It was originally perceived and formed as a recording company in 1974 with an objective to protect the interest of the Artists, poets, composers and others who were being deprived of their legitimate earnings and with the aim to release the recordings on cassettes and other mediums, which were in the national interest but not viable from the commercial point of view. It started the business with recording and manufacturing of the gramophone records in 1976.

The location of the manufacturing plant at Islamabad was chosen with a view to provide jobs in an area which was not industrially as advanced as cities like Karachi and Lahore. The job nature i.e cassette assembly line and recording of cassettes on sophisticated electronic equipment best suited to the women work force. It opened a gateway of jobs on the women of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad who comprised about 70% of the total work force during the period 1976 to 1990.

The company commenced its commercial business on 1st July 1976 with the release of Holy Quran on audio cassettes and gramophone records thus holding the honor of releasing the Holy Quran recordings on audio cassettes and gramophone records for the first time in the Sub-Continent.

The technology changed and in view of the unanticipated overwhelming demand of the audio cassettes, manufacturing of gramophone records had to be given up in 1981. In 1983 the pre-recorded Video cassettes were added to its production. Soon it established itself as a prestigious Recording Company and "SRC" label became a hallmark of quality and excellence in the pre-recorded audio/ video cassette genre.

However the rampant piracy of cassettes proved to be disastrous and the Company determined not to compromise on quality, started losing business. The versatile management of the Company could clearly see the bright future of electronic media and at the same time could see the bleak future of the ligitimate, copyright recording business due to day by day increase in unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material and unethical competition faced by the company from the cassette pirates. The recording business, as was envisaged, gradually faded away. In 1998 it was felt that it would no longer be economical to keep the manufacturing facilities at Islamabad. The recording was entrusted to a private sector company under license arrangements. The SRBC repertoire is now available on audio compact discs and DVDs.

In 1989 it created a wholly owned Peoples Television Network (Pvt) Limited which was later amalgamated with SRBC with the new name of "STN, now called ATV ".


ATV (A Shalimar Television Network Channel)

The phenomenal growth of the channel can be best judged from the fact that the Channel which had its only transmitting station at Islamabad in 1990 now operates with 20 stations covering all major cities and commercial centres of Pakistan. The ATV stations are located at Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Daska, Multan, Bahawalpur, Larkana, Hyderabad ,Sukkur, Peshawar, Mangora, Qalat, Batkhail, Khuzdar, Thandyani, Sahiwal, Sibi, Quetta and Tando Allahyar covering over 50% of the population. The success of ATV is primarily attributable to its extremely popular family entertainment programs. The program mix is Entertainment 40%, Information 37 % and Education 23%. The broadcasting setup of SRBC clicked on the very outset and played a major role in the prosperity and stability of the Company. All the capital and running expenses of this company are met from its own resources. No government grant, budgetary allocation or subsidy was ever acquired.
The Company enjoys sound financial health. It has paid unprecedented dividends of 6597% in the corporate history of Pakistan since its inception.