These Are the Most Popular TV Channels & Topics on Pakistani Social Media

During the first 6 months of 2017, Pakistani news channels paid more attention to their social media presence. According to figures released by the by the Research and Analysis Desk of Voice of Pakistan in their Special Report, this is how Pakistani news channels fared over social media.

In terms of their social media popularity, these were the top Pakistani news channels by ranking:

1. ARY News
2. Express News
3. Samaa
4. Geo News
5. Dunya News

During the first 6 Months of 2017 ARY News was leading over at Facebook and Express News maintained its 1st position on Twitter. When it came to post people engagement, Express News maintained its lead on Facebook, while Geo News prevailed on Twitter.

Express News successfully engaged 10 million people persistently. Neo TV, 92 News HD and Dawn News increased their staff to manage social media more effectively.

People on Facebook mostly shared and liked posts of Express News, ARY News, Samaa and Dunya whereas ARY, Geo and Dawn News were considered more reliable on social media.

Most Popular Channels over Social Media

In addition, the viewership of Neo News, 92 News, Bol News and 24 News increased over social media. The popularity graph of Aaj News and AbbTakk News went down. News One, Capital Tv, Din News, Channel 5 and 7 News did not pay that much importance to their social media presence.

Geo News was the most criticized channel on social media with Dawn News coming at a close second.

Most Active TV Channels on Social Media

The most active Electronic Media pages on Facebook posted 250-350 updates weekly.

The report made some rather interesting observations. It found that:

• Geo News was the most tweeted Electronic Media Channel,
• Dawn News performed top in Blogs,
• Samaa News did well in Videos,
• Express News ranked well in National & interesting News,
• ARY and Geo did better in Political News,
• Geo, ARY and Dunya remained popular when it came to Analysis on News.

Popular Media Personalities and Programs

In the first six months of the year, Arshad Sharif, Iqrar-ul-hassan and Waseem Badami proved to be the most popular media personalities from ARY NEWS. Kamran Khan and Sohail Warraich were found to be more popular on Dunya News, Rauf Klasra from Channel 92, and Orya Maqbool Jan of Neo Tv were also popular over social media as well.

Geo News program “Aaj Shahzaib Khanzada K Saath” became popular on social media, while Samaa failed to make any program popular in the social spaces. Javed Chaudhury’s discussions and Raymond Davis’ book were also popular social media topics that drew a lot of discussions.

Geo News and ARY News left a great impact on the Panama case. Both channels split public opinion over the matter. Most frequently watched trends on Twitter were related to the Panama case as well.

Most Discussed News Stories

Topics that were heavily discussed over social media were:

• Qamar Javed Bajwa, COAS
• Raheel Sharif as Chief of Islamic Alliance,
• 23rd March Parade,
• Dawn Leaks & ISPR Tweet,
• Maryam Nawaz’s Tweet & German Journalist reply,
• Prince of Qatar,
• Tailor hunting,
• Parachnaar incident,
• Operation Rad-ul-fasaad,
• Water issue in Karachi
• Problems of K-Electric.

Meanwhile, discussions and debates were watched during Ramzan Transmission. BOL News had to face heavy criticism due to its tendency to present exaggerated claims. Game shows from different channels also came under severe criticism on Social Media.