Pakistan's biggest TV network briefly goes off air

Islamabad: Pakistan's biggest television network - Geo Tv – on Friday went temporarily off-air across the country, a day after it shifted its services from a foreign satellite to a state-operated satellite.

The Tv network had shifted all its channels to PAKSAT satellite on Thursday after concluding lengthy negotiations with the state-operated satellite service.

Geo Tv had also issued advertisements in newspapers in the last few days for the information of cable operators so that they tune the PAKSAT satellite to receive Geo TV channels.

However, the channel on Friday went temporarily off-air, leaving its employees and viewers guessing for reasons. The channel was back on air after some time and it reported that the problem was caused by a technical glitch after it shifted all its channels to PAKSAT satellite.

The media group claimed that its satellite contract with its existing foreign satellite provider ended this month, and they moved to PAKSAT, a subsidiary organisation of the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO).

Geo group own several news, entertainment and sport channels in Pakistan.

The group, often at the receiving end for its critical reporting on country's powerful military and security establishment, has been in the headlines since gunmen attacked its leading news anchor Hamid Mir in 2014 in Karachi.

Several other employees working with Geo Tv have been attacked by militants in the past.