''ARY Digital'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

network available in Pakistan, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, North America and Europe. The ARY Group of companies is a

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman,

Abdul Razzak Yaqoob Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (7 May 1944 – 21 February 2014) was a Pakistani gold bullion trader who founded ARY Gold in the United Arab Emirates and later ARY Media Group. Early life He was born in Surat, British India to Memon family in 1944 which ...

(ARY). The network is focused towards only

Pakistani diaspora Overseas Pakistanis ( ur, ), or the Pakistani diaspora, refers to Pakistani people who live outside of Pakistan. These include citizens that have migrated to another country as well as people born abroad of Pakistani descent. According to th ...

. The channel has an expanding network of channels, each with an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

focus''.'' The channel broadcasts on cable and satellite networks,

linear television Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...

as well as streaming platforms including

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Channel and

ARY ZAP ARY Digital Network ( ur, ) is a subsidiary of the ARY Group. The ARY group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Haji Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (ARY). The network has a video on demand streaming service call ...

History

ARY Digital, formerly known as The Pakistani Channel, was launched in the United Kingdom in 16th September 2000 to cater to the Pakistani community living in the region. It uses Samacom, an uplink provider based in the UAE, as the uplink teleport station. The channel started off with a format similar to PTV Prime and other South Asian channels where it provided slots for soap operas in general while presenting an hourly slot for news headlines. Although flaming political talk shows and dramas were the main priority when it came to programming, the network soon was hailed for its news coverage. The network acquired a license to start broadcasting in Pakistan. In 2002, the ARY Star Gold Quiz Show became the first live show to offer a prize of one kilogram of gold. For the period of its broadcast, participants won over 260 kilograms of gold. In 2005, the network obtained the rights to show

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...

on its sister music channel,

The Musik ARY Musik (, formerly The Musik) is a Pakistani pay television music channel, first launched in 2003 as "The Musik" in Dubai by Salman Iqbal. It is part of the ARY Digital Network. In 2009 its name was changed to "ARY Musik". It features musi ...

. The channel also held rights to the ''

Who Wants to be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

'' franchise for Pakistan. On 18 October 2007 most of the ARY news team, covering former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

's arrival from exile, were killed by one of two explosions. Pictures of the victims were shown live on the news hour and prayers were observed. Bhutto was later escorted safely to an official government house.

SD Feed Closure

Since July 2021, ARY Digital has been only available in high-definition. The standard definition (SD) broadcast was shutdown 15 August 2021.

Specialized programming

By 2004, ARY Digital had started up three sister ventures apart from the flagship channel ARY Digital, channels targeting generalized programming. They include

ARY News ARY may stand for: * Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, a Pakistani expatriate businessman * Andre Romelle Young, real name of Dr. Dre * Ary and the Secret of Seasons, an action adventure video game * ARY Digital, a Pakistani television network * ARY Digital Ne ...

, a news channel;

ARY Musik ARY Musik (, formerly The Musik) is a Pakistani pay television music channel, first launched in 2003 as "The Musik" in Dubai by Salman Iqbal. It is part of the ARY Digital Network. In 2009 its name was changed to "ARY Musik". It features musi ...

, a youth-oriented music channel, and ARY Qtv, an Islamic network.

Availability

Continental programming

In 2004, ARY Digital divided its broadcasts in such a way, that each continent had different programming at different times, to better facilitate the audience. The channels were split as follows: *ARY Digital Asia *ARY Digital UAE *

ARY Digital UK ARY Digital UK is a British Pakistani Urdu entertainment channel, It is the British feed of ARY Digital This feed is available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Europe. The channel broadcasts on linear television as well as streaming program ...

*ARY Digital USA

ARY Digital Asia

The Asian feed of the channel is

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

, as channels in the

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

are usually broadcast without encryption. Unlike other feeds, ARY Digital Asia features a wider variety of local programmes and international shows. Many of which may include foreign programmes including

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

and

Lollywood Lollywood ( ur, , translit=lâli vuḍ) refers to Pakistan's film industry based in Lahore, previously the base for both Punjabi and Urdu language film production. Lahore has been the center of Pakistani cinema since the partition of ...

movies, American & British TV shows, for example ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

, 24'', ''Criminal Minds: Beyond Boundaries'', '' NCIS'', ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial drama television show, television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purce ...

'' & '' Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi''

ARY Digital UAE

It is a free-to-air channel broadcasting at the

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Its programming is limited to Pakistani-produced shows only.

Current programmes

Criticism

In 2003, ARY Digital was criticised upon its airing of a prisoner's derogatory comments against the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC-3) and a video showing balded young girls behind bars begging for mercy. The contempt of court proceedings against the officials of the network were withdrawn after the judge accepted unconditional apologies.