Country | Pakistan |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Global |
Headquarters | Dubai, UAE |
Programming | |
Picture format | South Asia: 1080i HDTV downscaled to 16:9 for the SDTV feeds. The South Asian subfeed is downscaled to letterboxed 4:3 576i) Global feeds: 1080p HDTV (downscaled to 4:3/16:9 576i for the SDTV feeds) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Alliance Media FZ LLC |
History | |
Launched | 23 June 2012 |
Links | |
Website | Urdu1.tv |
Availability | |
Streaming media | |
Urdu 1 on Sony Gateway | Watch Live |
Urdu 1 (Urdu: اردو 1) is an Urdu language entertainment channel based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[1][2] It airs Turkish drama dubbed in Urdu in Pakistan.[3][4]
Urdu 1 was founded in 2012 by Faraz Ansari to air foreign television shows dubbed in Urdu in Pakistan.[2][4] It began test transmissions on 12 June 2012 and commenced regular broadcasting on 23 June 2012. Its transmission became available in Pakistan on 12 June 2012, with regular transmission beginning 23 June 2012. It adapted international formats, such as MasterChef, for local audiences.[4]
The third and most successful model, from the viewpoint of popularity as well as economy, has been Urdu 1. Based in Dubai, Urdu 1 has landing rights with a touch of 'glocalisation.' It mostly airs Turkish soap operas dubbed in the Urdu language. Some media sources claim that Urdu 1 is a front organisation for News Corporation, others, for instance Pakistan Broadcasters Association, informed a commission constituted by the country's Supreme Court that Indians own it (PMCR, 2013). The latter claim is, however, unsubstantiated according to journalists interviewed for this research.