Sayem Sobhan Anvir elected director of ATCO

Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir, also the managing director of News24, a sister concern of Bashundhara Group, has been elected a director of the Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO), an apex forum of the country’s broadcasting industry.ATCO formed a 15-member board of directors through a democratic process for the next three years at its 44th general meeting held at a city hotel on Saturday.

Some 19 candidates contested for 15 director positions of the forum. Maasranga Television chairman Anjan Chowdhury has been re-elected as president, DBC News chairman Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury as senior vice-president and Desh TV deputy managing director Arif Hasan as vice president of ATCO. Bashundhara Group owns two television channels --- News24 and T-Sports. The industry leaders welcomed the representation of Bashundhara Group in ATCO for empowering the forum. Other elected directors are Anjan Chowdhury of Maasranga Television, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury of DBC News, Arif Hasan of Desh TV, Md Jasim Uddin of RTV, Md Liakat Ali Khan Mukul of Asian Television, Mahfuzur Rahman of ATN Bangla, Md Ashfaq Uddin Ahmed of NTV, Ahmed Zubayer of Somoy Television, Zahir Uddin Mahmud Mamun of Channel I, Dr Rubana Huq of Nagarik Televsion, Kazi Zahidul Hasan of Deepto TV, Abdus Samad of ETV, Abdul Huq of Banglavision and Tipu Alam Milan of Baishakhi TV.

Name	Vote	Organisation
Anjan Chowdhury	20	Maasranga Television
Tipu Alam Milan	20	Baishakhi TV
Arif Hasan	19	Desh TV
Mahfuzur Rahman	19	ATN Bangla
Abdul Huq	19	Banglavision
Md Jasim Uddin	19	RTV
Kazi Zahidul Hasan	19	Deepto TV
Ahmed Zubayer	19	Somoy Television
Md Liakat Ali Khan Mukul	18	Asian Television
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury	18	DBC News
Dr Rubana Huq	18	Nagarik Televsion
Abdus Samad	18	ETV
Sayem Sobhan Anvir	17	NEWS24
Zahir Uddin Mahmud Mamun	17	Channel I
Ashfaq Uddin Ahmed	14	NTV
Mozammel Babu	7	Ekattor TV
Farzana Munny	7	Gaan Bangla Television
Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman	6	Independent Television
Sheikh Kabir Hossain	6	Channel 24

Those who were defeated in the election are Mozammel Babu of Ekattor TV, Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman of Independent Television, Sheikh Kabir Hossain of Channel 24 and Farzana Munny of Gaan Bangla Television. ATCO president Anjan Chowdhury said the new committee will work for the betterment of the industry so that televisions channels can contribute more to the nation and its growth. “All directors have been elected in a democratic way. We hope the new directors will play a vital role for the betterment of the industry,” Anjan Chowdhury, chairman of Maasranga Television, told the Daily Sun after the election. Journalist leader Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said the inclusion of young business leaders like Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir will strengthen the ATCO board. “Bashundhara Group is not only owners of two television channels, but a major player in the media industry in Bangladesh. Sayem Sobhan Anvir is associated with ATCO as director. The representation of Bashundhara MD will empower the organisation as well,” Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, senior vice-president of ATCO, told the Daily Sun on Saturday. He also lauded the role of the government for taking a courageous role to fix the serial number of projecting television on satellite and force the foreign channels to broadcast clean feed in Bangladesh. Industry leaders said the new board of ATCO has the scope to modernize the satellite television industry in the country amidst the growth of social media. “We have to introduce digital systems for cable operations. The system will benefit the authorities to measure TRP and the television stations can earn from subscription fees as paid channels. If we consider the local market of 30 million satellite connections, every television channel can earn significant amounts to reduce the dependency on advertisements,” Iqbal Sobhan, chairman of DBC News, added.

SOURCE : Daily Sun