Introduction to Pakistan’s local media

Television is the preferred medium owing to the low level of literacy, although radio is popular, particularly in rural and more conservative areas, and the country has a well-established print media market.

Popular publications include the English-medium Dawn and the Urdu-medium Daily Jang. Television and radio are also popular mediums. Media are available in a wide range of languages. In 2013, 85 per cent of urban households and 50 per cent of rural households had access to cable TV, whether their own or otherwise.

In 2013, 10.9 per cent of the population were Internet users (World Bank). Although this rate has increased from almost zero in 2000, internet access, broadband connections and computer ownership are limited largely to high-income households, often in urban areas. Pakistan’s 3G and 4G markets are extremely limited, although the transition to 3G networks intensified in 2014. Around 80 per cent of the population has a mobile phone subscription, most phone owners have more than one phone; smartphone penetration is low at 7–10 per cent. The majority of these users (62.5 per cent) use Wi-Fi as opposed to mobile data, and 77 per cent are aged 21–30.

Social media are therefore limited to the small share of the population that has access to the Internet. Limits on access to social media, such as YouTube, are also in place. In 2014, six per cent of the population, or 60 per cent of Internet users, were Facebook users, and around 40–50 per cent of smartphone users used social media on their mobile phones. In March 2014, the number of Facebook users exceeded 13 million, representing rapid growth. Of these users, 72 per cent were male and the largest shares were aged 18–24 and clustered in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. There were also more than 2.23 million LinkedIn users, representing 1.2 per cent of the population.

Pakistan has effective advertising channels to promote educational campaigns, most popular being print and electronic media. With the growth and consequent increase in exposure to social media, most students use the internet. The use of the digital media is on the rise as it is cheaper, efficient, has an exponential reach and overcomes geographical boundaries.

Measuring the impact of the internet on the Education sector from a student’s perspective; 33 % of the student population relies on the internet to choose an institution to study abroad. As a second choice, 22.4% of the students rely on their career counsellors for this information.

SIEM Pakistan offers various platforms that can be effectively used to promote recruitment in Pakistan.

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Sources:

Gallup Pakistan (2013), ‘Cable Viewership in Pakistan’ http://gallup.com.pk/CableViewershipinPakistan.pdf

Tech In Asia (2014), ‘A snapshot of smartphone usage in Pakistan in 2014’ http://www.techinasia.com/smartphones-in-pakistan-infographic-2014/#fn:1

Grappetite (2012), ‘Smartphone Usage in Pakistan’ http://grappetite.com/blog/smartphone-usage-in-pakistan/

We Are Social (2014), ‘Social, Digital & Mobile in APAC in 2014’ http://wearesocial.sg/blog/2014/01/social-digital-mobile-apac-2014/

Pakistan Advertisers Society (2014), ‘Pakistan Social Media Report – March 2014’ http://www.pas.org.pk/pakistan-social-media-report-march-2014/