{{Short description|Pakistani pay television news channel}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=March 2019}} {{Infobox television channel | name = Geo News | logo = GEO News logo in Urdu.png | logo_size = 150px | launch_date = {{start date and age|df=yes|2002|10|}} | country = Pakistan | headquarters = Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan | language = Urdu | area = Indian Sub-Continent Canada & Middle East | network = Geo TV | owner = Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman<br>Jang Media Group<br>Mir Ibrahim Rahman | picture_format = (1080p 16:9 MPEG-4 HDTV) | sister_channels = {{Collapsible list | list_style = text-align:left; | 1 = Geo Entertainment<br />Geo Super<br />Geo Tez<br />Geo Kahani}} | website = {{URL|https://www.geo.tv}} | online_serv_1 = Geo News Live | online_chan_1 = [http://live.geo.tv/ Watch Live] | online_serv_2 = Geo News Live Stream | online_chan_2 = [https://live.geo.tv/stream2.php Watch Live] }} '''Geo News''' ({{langx|ur|جیو نیوز}}) is a Pakistani TV news channel owned by the Jang Media Group, formerly known as Jang Group of Newspapers.<ref name="Dawn">{{cite news |date=28 June 2012 |title=Geo TV Network |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/730202/geo-tv-network-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250111030948/https://www.dawn.com/news/730202/geo-tv-network-2 |archive-date=11 January 2025 |access-date=14 August 2025 |newspaper=Dawn}}</ref><ref name=skymedia/>
The channel was launched in October 2002 by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, as a news and current affairs programs channel. Geo News was under its flagship channel Geo TV. Geo TV was the biggest news channel in Pakistan in 2007 and still in 2025.<ref name=TheHindu>{{cite news|url=http://hindu.com/nic/geo.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 May 2009|access-date=14 August 2025|title=Pakistan's Geo TV on how it was forced to shut down (under Pervez Musharraf ruling period)|date=18 November 2007|newspaper=The Hindu newspaper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525120139/http://hindu.com/nic/geo.htm}}</ref><ref name=NYT/>
==History== Geo News was launched in October 2002 as Geo TV. According to ''Dawn'' newspaper of Pakistan, "Since its launch, Geo TV has tested the bounds of freedom of expression in Pakistan to unprecedented levels in the country's history. This has also put Geo TV in numerous conflicts with the Pakistani government".<ref name=Dawn/>
In November 2007, under Pervez Musharraf's ruling period, a temporary 'state of emergency' was declared by the government, and all Pakistani news media, newspapers and TV channels came under high pressure to tow the government line including Geo News TV channel.<ref name="RSF">{{cite news |date=8 November 2007 |title=News media resist censorship and crackdown by Musharraf government |url=https://rsf.org/en/news-media-resist-censorship-and-crackdown-musharraf-government |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424193042/https://rsf.org/en/news-media-resist-censorship-and-crackdown-musharraf-government |archive-date=24 April 2023 |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=Reporters Without Borders}}</ref>
<blockquote> "There has been a marked increase in visits to the website of Geo TV, the first television station in Pakistan to broadcast independent news programmes. It is now reportedly receiving more than 1 million visits a day. Sales of newspapers, especially issues with supplements on the state of emergency, have also soared since the ban was imposed on privately-owned radio and TV stations".<ref name=RSF/> </blockquote>
In June 2014, Geo News license was suspended by the Pakistani government for 15 days for their accusation and allegation against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and its then-chief Zaheer-ul-Islam for attacking its journalist Hamid Mir.<ref name=NDTV>{{Cite web|title=Pakistan Suspends Geo TV's Licence for Defaming the Army and ISI|url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pakistan-suspends-geo-tvs-licence-for-defaming-the-army-and-isi-576003|access-date=2025-08-15|website=NDTV.com (India) website|date=7 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925024816/https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pakistan-suspends-geo-tvs-licence-for-defaming-the-army-and-isi-576003}}</ref>
<blockquote> "The controversy erupted after Mr. Mir's brother accused "certain elements" in the ISI and its chief of orchestrating the attack, a charge denied by the military".<ref name=NDTV/>
"Geo TV network and Jang Group, which owns the channel, on May 26 had issued an apology to Pakistan's armed forces and the ISI for making the allegations".<ref name=NDTV/> </blockquote>
In 2018, the employees of Geo News were not paid for three months and the editor-in-chief was summoned to explain the situation. Imran Aslam, an executive of Geo Network said, "This is an attempt to financially cripple the organization into submission." The news channel owner has also been summoned by the court in the past on the issue of non-payment of employee salaries.<ref name="Dawn2">{{Cite news |last=Bhatti |first=Haseeb |date=2018-04-16 |title=SC summons Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman to explain non-payment of salaries to Geo employees |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1401957 |access-date=15 August 2025 |newspaper=Dawn |language=en}}</ref>
== Controversies == According to Delcan Walsh, ''The New York Times'' journalist, some militant outfits including Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and MQM-L's alleged militant wing have infiltrated the Geo group that helped them in executing the murder of the journalist Wali Khan Babar and the PNS Mehran attack in 2011.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Declan |author-link=Declan Walsh (journalist) |date=26 April 2014 |title=Attack on Journalist Starts Battle in Pakistani Press (Hamid Mir of Geo News was attacked and wounded in 2014) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/world/asia/attack-on-journalist-starts-battle-in-pakistani-press.html?_r=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606234949/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/world/asia/attack-on-journalist-starts-battle-in-pakistani-press.html?_r=0 |archive-date=6 June 2014 |access-date=15 August 2025 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
== Hosts and analyst == ===Current=== * Suhail Warraich * Shahzeb Khanzada<ref name=skymedia/> * Hamid Mir<ref name=TheHindu/><ref name=NYT/> * Saleem Safi<ref name=skymedia/> * Mazhar Abbas
===Former=== * Kamran Khan * Shahid Masood<ref name=TheHindu/> * Ayesha Bakhsh * Najam Sethi * Sana Bucha * Saba Qamar * Shaan Shahid * Aamir Liaquat Hussain * Aftab Iqbal * Fiza Ali
==Programming== === Current programming === Source:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geo SCHEDULE Geo TV Geo News - geotv |url=https://www.geo.tv/schedule |access-date=2025-11-12 |website=Geo News |language=en}}</ref>
* ''Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath''<ref name="skymedia" /> * ''Aik Din Geo Kay Sath'' with Suhail Warraich * ''Capital Talk''<ref name=skymedia>{{cite web|url=https://www.skymedia.co.uk/channels/geo-news/|title=Geo News is an Urdu language TV channel|website=Sky Media (UK) website|access-date=15 August 2025|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723142556/https://www.skymedia.co.uk/channels/geo-news/}}</ref> * ''Geo Pakistan'' * ''Jirga with Saleem Safi''<ref name="skymedia" /> * ''Jurm O Saza'' * ''Report Card'' * ''SCORE'' about sports * ''Sports Floor''
=== Former programming === {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * ''Aapas ki Baat'' * ''BNN'' (2011–2015) * ''Burka Avenger'' * ''Team Muhafiz'' (2022) * ''Hum Sub Umeed Se Hain'' (2007 - 2015) {{div col end}}
== See also == * List of news channels in Pakistan
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|geo.tv}}, Geo Television Network, Homepage {{Geo News}} {{Television in Pakistan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geo News}} Category:Geo News Category:Mass media in Pakistan Category:Urdu-language television channels in the United Kingdom Category:Television stations in Pakistan Category:Television stations in Karachi Category:Television channels and stations established in 2002 Category:2002 establishments in Pakistan Category:Conservatism in Pakistan