PTV began its transmission with a news bulletin in 1962. Initially a private company in which the Ministry of Information had controlling shares, the channel was nationalized in 1971.
The Khabarnama has a nostalgic value for an entire generation of Pakistanis, although it was seen as a propaganda mouthpiece for successive governments.
Zubairuddin was a prominent newscaster on the channel throughout the 1970s. He left Pakistan in the year 2000 and now lives in Canada, where he is a popular radio personality in Toronto.