Bahria Town Chairman Malik Riaz has shut down his Lahore-based Aap News channel.

“The channel’s director news called a town hall meeting today where he announced the channel is being shut down,” a journalist working with Aap News said.

“The director news said he received a call from Malik Riaz and he told him he can’t run this channel due to financial constraints.”

In an e-mail sent to its workers, the channel’s administration said that it’s not possible to run the Urdu channel because of some “legal” and “technical” reasons. “The transmission of Aap News is being shut down with immediate effect.”

The e-mail, however, said that workers will be paid this month’s full salary and half salaries for the next three months as per the decision.

Riaz will start a new channel on his own license in which the workers of Aap News will be given priority at the time of hiring, according to the email.

The property tycoon took over the Aap News media group in August 2019. The group also has an English-language Indus News channel which will continue to work.

In a message to his team, Indus News’ Managing Director Sarmad Salik said his channel is not being shut down and “would continue as before”.

Newspaper: Pakistan Today