Incorporated in 1974. Currently it is a recording and broadcasting company with 20 ATV stations in the urban centers of Pakistan. It was originally perceived and formed as a recording company in 1974 with an objective to protect the interest of the Artists, poets, composers and others who were being deprived of their legitimate earnings and with the aim to release the recordings on cassettes and o
ther mediums, which were in the national interest but not viable from the commercial point of view. It started the business with recording and manufacturing of the gramophone records in 1976. The location of the manufacturing plant at Islamabad was chosen with a view to provide jobs in an area which was not industrially as advanced as cities like Karachi and Lahore. The job nature i.e cassette assembly line and recording of cassettes on sophisticated electronic equipment best suited to the women work force. It opened a gateway of jobs on the women of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad who comprised about 70% of the total work force during the period 1976 to 1990. The company commenced its commercial business on 1st July 1976 with the release of Holy Quran on audio cassettes and gramophone records thus holding the honor of releasing the Holy Quran recordings on audio cassettes and gramophone records for the first time in the Sub-Continent. The technology changed and in view of the unanticipated overwhelming demand of the audio cassettes, manufacturing of gramophone records had to be given up in 1981. In 1983 the pre-recorded Video cassettes were added to its production. Soon it established itself as a prestigious Recording Company and "SRC" label became a hallmark of quality and excellence in the pre-recorded audio/ video cassette genre. However the rampant piracy of cassettes proved to be disastrous and the Company determined not to compromise on quality, started losing business. The versatile management of the Company could clearly see the bright future of electronic media and at the same time could see the bleak future of the ligitimate, copyright recording business due to day by day increase in unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material and unethical competition faced by the company from the cassette pirates. The recording business, as was envisaged, gradually faded away. In 1998 it was felt that it would no longer be economical to keep the manufacturing facilities at Islamabad. The recording was entrusted to a private sector company under license arrangements. The SRBC repertoire is now available on audio compact discs and DVDs. In 1989 it created a wholly owned Peoples Television Network (Pvt) Limited which was later amalgamated with SRBC with the new name of "STN, now called ATV ".
