Political patronage and victimisation: Medialogic and the TV ratings story

It happened quietly and without warning. Early on the 22nd of May, a small team of law enforcement officials dispatched by the ministry of interior sealed the offices of a seemingly little known company called Medialogic. And as the offices were locked up, Pakistan’s entire advertising and broadcast industries went blind. 

Medialogic is (was?) the only provider of television ratings in Pakistan. In the one week since they were unceremoniously banned television ratings have disappeared in the country entirely, leaving television channels and advertisers with no way of knowing which shows are getting the largest audience and most views. 

In a brief notification issued on the 22nd of May, the ministry of interior requested that the functioning of Medialogic be ‘halted’ over allegations of “anti-state activities” that were supposedly a threat to national security. 

The government has not specified what these anti-state activities were. Both the interior and information ministries have failed to respond to repeated requests for comments on the issue. The overwhelming response from within the industry, however, is that old links between Medialogic’s founder and former CEO Salman Danish and former prime minister Imran Khan became the cause.