Labaik Pvt Limited, a parent company of a diploma mill along with Bol TV, is being scrutinized by two of the most powerful men in Pakistan’s advertising industry as as one of the most powerful advertising agencies
Fouad Hussi, the former chief executive officer at GroupM, Raihan Amir Merchant chairman of Z2C Fouad Hussi, former CEO of GroupM, Raihan Amir Merchant chairman Blitz advertising are plaintiffs. The lawsuits are filed February 7, 28, and on March 26th. The plaintiffs are seeking damages of Rs500 millions, Rs1.5 million and Rs650 millions in damages, which totals Rs2.65 trillion ($16.02million).
Fahad Sultan Barrister of Sultan & Sultan, stated that “as far as damages are concerned it is practice here to usually quote this unreasonable amount.” The amount is seldom awarded since it is a requirement to demonstrate and analyze the damage you claim. Since people aren’t able to prove they’ve suffered damages from defamation the courts won’t award the amount. The courts do award damages, however they’re usually lower than the amount stated.
Sources said that BOL TV was the one to air the alleged hits because it failed to get advertisements through Z2C, Group M and Blitz Advertising for a number of years. The reason for this was the conflicting relationship with BOL TV, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, (PEMRA) and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association. An auditor for the media informed Profit that Kantar doesn’t have ratings from the BOL network] which means that Kantar is not able to gain revenue from these organizations.” “There can be no excuse why clients should be concerned that the channel isn’t Kantar. Ratings are the primary factor in deciding on a channel for media plans.
Profit also learned reports from the media industry’s planners about BOL TV’s link to an ex-diploma mill is creating a tense environment for decision-makers in the industry. The channel repeatedly has committed violations of PEMRA guidelines on defamation and hate speech, as well as questioned the religious beliefs of its viewers and displaying explicit content. As such, international and local advertisers are allegedly hesitant to advertise with a channel that lacks the endorsement of PEMRA and PBA, and airs content that potentially violates brand safety protocols – which the CMO Council says can result in brands being guilty-by-association.
Shortly after PEMRA had suspended the licenses for BOL TV in 2017 and BOL Entertainment 2017, all other TV channels began to print ads for PBA within their newspapers in Pakistan with a details of the charges against Labaik Pvt Limited and BOL TV.
BOL TV received a Rs1,000,000 fine earlier this year when the host of the BOL TV program engaged in vulgar and inappropriate conversations with contestants of female gender. In addition, the Islamabad High Court also banned the show from airing in the future and barred the host from being granted any other roles.
Advertisers have complained that repeated violations of safety standards for brands and the refusal to cooperate with trade associations of the industry and an unwillingness of the regulator, caused media planners to be requested to exclude all broadcast and digital channels controlled by Labaik Pvt Limited, from being considered when creating media schedules.
Profit was informed by expert media planners one of the initial steps for allowing BOL Network to be considered as a plan for media is to Kantar rate it, the software is employed in MediaLogic. Industry experts stated that BOL could not enter markets without having the permission from the major three broadcasters in spite of decades of relationships through HUM TV, GEO TV and ARY.
BOL TV and BOL Entertainment are legitimate
Sources say that MediaVoir was founded through Labaik Pvt Limited in 2017 following its rejection of MediaLogic rating of low for BOL TV as well as BOL entertainment. MediaVoir is a rating and ranking firm that claims to offer accurate information on the habits of television viewers and trends. The rating company, which is contrasted with Media Bank, The Media Trackers and MediaLogic says it will provide exact results and deeper insights at a lower cost.
MediaVoir together with Breeo International and The Media Trackers are all accredited by PEMRA TV Rating companies as per PEMRA. PEMRA stipulates that applicants must have no broadcast media licences or landing rights authorizations from the agency. MediaVoir has evidence that suggests that this rule was not met due to its relationship in Labaik Pvt Limited.
numerous attempts to help support the broadcast of shows on multiple attempts to support shows that were broadcast on the BOL TV channel network are an indication of the connections with MediaVoir in addition to Labaik Pvt Limited. Three profiles that reference MediaVoir in Linkedin Linkedin claim to be associated with the venture when they were employed by BOL TV.
The video rating for May 2017 agency placed Samaa News fifth with a 0.61 rating. Geo News was fourth with an 0.87 rating. Dunya News was third with an 1.03 rating. ARY News was second with the second spot with a 1.16 rating. BOL Television was the first, who introduced Bol Tv game show.
Litigation for defamation against television stations
In a conversation with Profit Sultan claimed that there are two kinds of defamation Criminal under Section 499 PPC , or civil under Section 499 PPC or the Defamation Ordinance.
In order to be able to satisfy the section on criminal the person must show that the person had the intention to be defamatory of the person. In civil matters even the most negligent of statements can suffice for as long as the defamation was made public. There are a variety of defenses to this kind of claim as an accused. You may choose to deny the entire claim, or argue that you did not commit anything “libel” or “slander” or “slander,” or claim that the claim is factual or true. In this case, freedom of speech is also going to play a role.
As per the case book there have been numerous defamation lawsuits against television stations brought by business and political leaders. The outcome isn’t certain since they were based upon public documents. Roshan Al Kanasro Waliullah Bangto filed a lawsuit to Abb Tak TV Channel for an Report that claimed Manzoor Kanasro (Director General of the Cultural Department) and his brother Roshan Ali Kanasro (Director General of the Cultural Department), had bought foreign properties that included billions of rupees money laundering through a company known as Waliullah Binto. Sultan said that the the legal teams in-house of media companies deal with notices of trademark infringement as well as notifications from PEMRA.
“Most cases do not go to trial until the end, so a judge is unlikely to be rendered in these cases.” He stated that defendants who believe they’ve committed a mistake or don’t want lawyers representing them or risk their reputation by fighting the issue in court are likely to resolve the issue outside of the courtroom.
Sultan declared that it is the responsibility of the plaintiff show that the revenue loss was directly attributable to the defamation. It is, however, difficult to determine the amount of loss goodwill.
