Credible data confirms Express News as market leader | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Credible data confirms Express News as market leader

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: Quantifiable and globally credible data has confirmed Express News as a market leader within the broadcast industry in Pakistan.

A recent study by Nielsen, the data company best known across the world for its TV ratings, has confirmed that increases in social media volume correlate to increases in TV ratings.

By analysing Twitter and Facebook posts connected to live TV broadcast, the study confirmed a relationship between Twitter and TV ratings. It also identified Twitter as one of three statistically significant variables (in addition to prior-year rating and advertising spend) to align with TV ratings.

Express News and its various property holdings are, by far, the leaders when it comes to social media and online traffic. Express News has the largest social media following when compared to the country’s other news networks. In most cases, the following is at least twice the size of other networks.

On Twitter, Express News has a following of 675,000 organic users, almost double the size of Geo News which has a following of only 388,000 users, followed by Dunya at 333,000, ARY News at 295,000 and Samaa at 220,000.

Express News’ huge organic Twitter following can further be substantiated by looking at the news organisation’s huge Facebook following.

Similar to Twitter, Express News also has the highest numbers of Facebook fans when it comes to news organisations in Pakistan. Express News’ Facebook following stands at a whopping 6.8 x

To further corroborate Express News expansive presence online, which is heavily linked to TV ratings, Alexa – a global pioneer in the world of analytical insight and the international standard when it comes to global traffic rank – ranks Express News as the number one news website in the country. Again, similar to Express News’ presence on social media can be corroborated by its website traffic and rank. When compared to Express News’ 14th ranking amongst all websites in Pakistan, Geo News stands at 82, Samaa at 112, Dunya at 45 and Ary at 147 in Pakistan.

It should be noted that Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based company that provides commercial web traffic data and analytics. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of US giant Amazon.com

This comes at a time when in a move to further malign Express News, the tainted TV ratings company Medialogic has presented to Pakistan Broadcasting Association (PBA) a report by an international auditor that is based on data obtained through coercion, blackmail and kidnapping by the owners of the ratings company.

The report was handed over to PBA by Robert Ruud, an auditor, but its findings lack credibility as they are dependent on the data that Medialogic owner Salman Danish extracted through kidnapping for ransom from his own employees who were coerced to submit affidavits against Express News after two members of their family were kidnapped by a team of CIA police Lahore led by Inspector Bashir Niazi.

With a small sample size confined to urban centres, and suspect management practices, Medialogic is widely seen within the industry as an organisation lacking in credibility, professional depth and sound management practices. Medialogic is now also involved in heinous crimes of extortion, kidnapping and blackmail.

While the data provided by Medialogic is considered suspect, other sources of credible data substantiate the position of Express News as a leading channel of Pakistan.

Given the direct correlation between this quantifiable and verifiable social media data and TV ratings, it is clear the position of Express News as a market leader is beyond doubt. To dent this position, companies with dubious credentials and criminal practices like Medialogic have colluded with CIA police and organisations like Jang Group to malign Express News. However, it is now becoming clearer by the day that Medialogic has based its entire vilification campaign against Express News on the data obtained through blackmail and kidnapping. The victims of these horrendous crimes – employees of Medialogic itself – have already gone to court against the company and the police officials who indulged in this kidnapping for ransom.

The latest allegations hurled at Express News through an international auditor therefore lack substance and credibility as they are based on so-called evidence that is itself concocted through a criminal act.

Express Tribune