Over the years, Hum and Geo have given us a lot of amazing content. Content that gets praised internationally too. But if there has been a single most important factor that has played its role in taking Pakistani TV content to the heights it has achieved today, it has to be its easy accessibility online.
For many of the millions of fans of Pakistani dramas, YouTube has been their sole back up or the original source to catch their favourite Pakistani TV shows. But this was only the case until recent past. For the last couple of months, we have started noticing that the dramas of both, Hum and Geo, have either been removed from their official YouTube channels or are not being uploaded at all.
This is a major concern among the fans these days and therefore, we decided to investigate what’s going on behind the scenes.
Why is Hum’s Content Missing?
A number of Hum’s hit drama serials like Suno Chanda, Alif Allah Aur Insaan, Rungreza, Sadqay Tumhare, Humsafar, and Mann Mayal to name a few, have been recently disappearing from its two official YouTube channels.
Moreover, its magnum opus – the period drama starring Ahad Raza Mir, Sajal Aly, Ahsan Khan, and Hira Mani, Aangan, is not being uploaded at all either. Although Hum had already clarified to us its position on Aangan for an earlier piece, we wondered why the rest of its content had started disappearing from our online space too? Therefore, we contacted Hum’s PR Manager, Minhas Saghir once again, and enquired what’s going on.
First of all, Minhas clarified why Hum has two official channels on Youtube. He told us that this was because whenever a Hum drama serial is searched on the digital platform, the network wanted two of their official results to appear at the top. Furthermore, the strategy also helps in increasing the chances of making their own content appear in the suggested videos whenever a viewer is watching any of their serials.
When asked about the disappearance of their hit dramas from YouTube, Minhas told Galaxy Lollywood that this was because since a lot of content gets uploaded on the video-sharing website on daily basis, the old one gets buried quickly. Therefore, the channel wanted to upload their old TV shows afresh so that they may appear as new search results on YouTube and their channels there.
So basically, both of Hum’s steps are about increasing the visibility of the channel’s old TV shows in the sea of content that is on the video-sharing platform.
Geo’s Missing Content
Just like Hum, Geo’s superhit TV series, Khaani, is nowhere to be found on the network’s official YouTube channel. Furthermore, the much-awaited TV serials like Noorbibi and Dil Kia Kare, that are currently running, are not being uploaded at Geo’s handle on YouTube either.
We tried contacting the channel for their take on the issue, but could not get a timely response from their side.
If, however, we have to make an assumption of Geo’s reasons, it could either be of two cases. It is possible that just like Hum, Geo is also trying to increase the visibility of their content by taking it off and reuploading it. Secondly, there is a good possibility that Geo is under negotiations with a big platform like Netflix or Iflix, so that it can increase the digital reach of its content like Hum plans to with Aangan.
Only time will tell what’s the actual story. Until then, the only solution would be to catch your favourite TV shows at their exact airing time.
