ARY News
ARY stands for ‘Abdul Razzak Yaqoob’ – the founder of the group owning the channel which is the pioneer among private news channels in Pakistan after military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf privatized the country’s airways through the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance, 2002, to compete with the increasing popularity of Indian satellite channels.
‘Har lamha ba khabar,’ or ‘Every Moment Informed’ is the slogan the channel uses to declare its mission statement. The channel has a vast network of reporters and correspondents across the country and also abroad to feed its 24/7 diet of news and current affairs.
In recent years, the channel took on its competitor Geo News TV channel – the market leader and the premier legacy media enterprise of the country – accusing it of allegedly being ‘pro-India’ in its coverage after Geo News was in line of fire for challenging the powerful security establishment.
As ARY Group is Dubai-based holding company with interests in several sectors its editorial policy never aims to challenge powerful state institutions or non-state actors.
Audience Share
12%
Ownership Type
Private
Geographic Coverage
International
Content Type
Free to air
Media Companies / Groups
ARY Group
Ownership Structure
ARY Communications (Private) Limited runs the channel. The company has 10 shareholders: Dubai-based ARY Digital FZ LLC holds the highest shares – 45% - while Muhammad Salman Iqbal (19%), Muhammad Mehboob (18%) and Muhammad Yaqoob (9%) are other major stakeholders. They all are members of one family.
Voting Rights
Missing Data
Individual Owner
Group / Individual Owner
ARY Digital FZ LLC
ARY Digital FZ LLC is registered in the United Arab Emirates. The team didn’t have access to the shareholding structure of the Dubai-registered business entity, however it is clear that the founder’s family controls the business in Dubai as well. Mohammad Iqbal is the Group’s and the company’s Chairman, while Salman Iqbal is its President and CEO.
General Information
Founding Year
2004
Affiliated Interests Founder
was a gold bullion trader who founded ARY Gold company in the United Arab Emirates and later launched ARY Media Group in 2000. In 1944, his parents migrated from India to Karachi, Pakistan, before India was partitioned in 1947. He was a wealthy businessman and also a philanthropist. He came to Dubai in 1969 where he discovered that the city offers opportunities and he made a fortune out of his business there. In 2014, he died of protracted illness in London.
Affiliated Interests Ceo
is the founder of ARY Digital Network as well as its chief executive. In addition, Iqbal is the owner of the ARY Group, that his uncle Abdul Razzak Yaqoob established. He is the son of Haji Muhammad Iqbal, one of the four owners of the group.
Iqbal also manages ARY Films, which is part of his group. As a businessman, Iqbal is known as the founder of 24-hour news cycle network in Pakistan launching Pakistan’s first-ever private 24/7 news and current affairs ARY News TV channel when the country was under the military rule of General Pervez Musharraf after the airwaves were privatized by the government in 2002 and private TV channels and radio stations were allowed.
In December 2015, Iqbal bought the ‘Karachi Kings’ cricket franchise for an undisclosed amount to play in Pakistan Super League of cricket.
Affiliated Interests Editor-In-Chief
Missing Data
Contact
6th Floor, Madina City Mall, Abdullah Haroon Road, Karachi
Tel.: +92(0)-21-111-279-111
Fax: +92(0)-21-35657314
Email: info@arydigital.tv
Website: arynews.tv
Financial Information
Revenue (in Mill. $)
Missing Data
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
Missing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)
Missing Data
Market Share
Missing Data
Further Information
Headlines
Meta Data
An information request was sent to the company on 15 January 2019 through a courier company as well as by email on same day - 15 January 2019. There was no response to the request. A reminder was couriered on 01 February 2019 and emailed on 04 February 2019. Again, there was no response from the company to date. Documents about the ARY Communications (Private) Limited provided by Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan did not include any audited financial report for 2017-18, as requested by MOM Pakistan for its research, of the company although under the law registered company has to submit annual audit report to comply with regulations. The company does not share revenue, operating profit nor shareholders on its website although Dubai-based ARY Digital FZ LLC, which holds biggest shares in ARY Communications (Private) Limited, does provide all such details on its website - http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.a_r_y_digital_fz_llc.5eb70c5e0376a7ed.html?aka_re=1
