Who is behind Bol TV Network?

By Samir Ali

The upcoming Bol TV is the brainchild of Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, the owner of a leading IT company Axact. Many Pakistanis who have heard of Bol TV, which is going to be aired in the next few months, do not know who is behind the new media house. 

Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh is a young, energetic entrepreneur who has ambitions to build Pakistan into a thriving economy. The Axact boss recently talked about his plans to launch the biggest news channel in Pakistan, claiming most of the key journalists and analysts have already been taken aboard Bol.  

Mr. Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh

During the last Team Meet of Axact held at PAF Base Karachi in early April, Shoaib Shaikh enunciated his plans to take over Pakistani media industry, vowing to hire the best professionals and journalists. 

Some of the names that graced the Axact Team Meet 2014 were Nusrat Javed and Mushtaq Minhas of Aaj TV, Nadeem Malik of Aaj, Aftab Iqab who hosts "Khabarnaak" at GEO, Asma Shirazi, Sami Ibrahim and Mubashir Luqman. 

It seems Shoaib Shaikh is close to achieving what he talked about at Team Meet 2014, as some of the biggest names in electronic media have already joined Bol TV Network. Kamran Khan who rose to fame through his GEO TV program "Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Saath," has  joined Bol and will host his show titled "Bol Kamran Khan Kay Saath." 

Rival news channel GEO apparently did not like the idea of Bol TV emerging on the scene and challenging its influence it has gained over the years. GEO recently ran stories labelling Bol TV an ISI-backed media outlet with ties to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.