ARY Digital Network President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Salman Iqbal has confirmed the launch of ARY Plus, Pakistan’s own Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming platform, stating that it will be free to use with no subscription fee.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on Kamran Khan’s show, Iqbal said that work on the ARY Plus app has been underway for the past three to four years. He stated that the platform was built in response to repeated requests from the Pakistani diaspora, who wanted a dedicated service for local content, and described the initiative as a milestone that will help establish Pakistan as a soft power globally.

Addressing concerns that the app would come with a cost, Iqbal was firm. “The most important thing is that all of this is free. We are not charging any money for it. We are not charging any fee for the launch or the download of ARY Plus,” he said.

Iqbal explained why ARY needed to move away from YouTube despite its reach. “The content was ours, the audience was ours, but the platform belonged to someone else. What could we do, it was a necessity,” he said, adding that ARY had been forced to rely almost entirely on YouTube while networks elsewhere in the world built their own platforms.

He said the app has been designed to be simple enough for anyone to use. “My younger daughter, who is ten years old, says even our grandmother can download this and watch it. It isn’t that difficult,” he said, adding that the app removes the hassle of searching for episodes and tracks what a viewer has already watched.

Iqbal said ARY Plus will carry the full library of ARY Digital’s dramas alongside a slate of exclusive content, including dramas, sports, short films and short series that will only be available on the app. He described ARY Plus primarily as an Urdu drama network and said the platform is aimed at a global Urdu-speaking audience he estimated at 750 million to a billion viewers.

He also revealed that ARY Plus will introduce a user-generated content feature. “We will be the first OTT platform in the world to do user-generated content,” he claimed, explaining that independent creators without slots on television will be able to upload their own dramas directly and gain instant exposure through ARY Digital’s existing viewership.

On a long-standing industry demand, Iqbal confirmed a formal royalty system for contributing professionals. “We will give royalties for as long as that drama keeps running on ARY Plus. As long as we keep receiving revenue through advertisement, you will keep getting your share,” he pointed out, adding that this covers everyone from line producers to actors, directors and scriptwriters.

Iqbal also addressed why ARY turned down an approach from Netflix. He said Netflix had asked ARY to hand over its content and take it off YouTube in exchange for streaming rights, but wanted guarantees ARY was not willing to accept.

“I said, if I remove my platform from YouTube and hand my content to you, and after a few days you shut me down, then I would be left with nothing. So I said it would be better to run my own platform, one that is in my own hands and under my own control. That is the only reason I refused Netflix.”

On the shifting cultural dynamic between Pakistan and India, Iqbal said Indian television shaped Pakistani viewing habits 25 to 26 years ago, but the trend has since reversed. “We have beaten India when it comes to dramas. This is a guarantee,” he observed, pointing to Pakistani phrases now appearing in Indian social media conversations as evidence of the shift.

Iqbal ended the interview by describing how ARY Plus is designed to be a safe space for younger viewers, free of the unpredictable content and advertising found on YouTube.