As Taliban bombs curtail campaign rallies, Pakistan's political parties are ploughing millions of dollars into TV and print adverts to sway voters ahead of next week's historic polls.
Competition is fierce but it's a cash market and those with the biggest bucks get the most air time ahead of the historic May 11 polls, set to mark a key democratic transition, say television executives on condition of anonymity.
Bursting with colour, promising to fix the nation's myriad ills, bust corruption and bring prosperity to voters, the "paid content" ads are broadcast day and night accompanied by the upbeat, nationalist jingle of campaign songs.
Although there is limited Internet access, more than 60 per cent of the 180 million population have access to TV, according to the Pakistan Advertisers Society.
For medium-sized channels, an average minute of advertising costs USD 460-500 during 6P.M. To midnight prime time or USD 250-300 earlier in the day, according to one television insider speaking on condition of anonymity.
Top-rated channels charge USD 2,200 dollars a minute for the 9-10 P.M. Slot, a source in the advertising business told AFP, adding that up to USD 300,000 is being spent a day by the main three parties on their television campaigns.
The outgoing PPP gives prominence to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, showing footage of her 2007 assassination and anointing her son Bilawal - still too young to contest the vote - as the country's future.
The main opposition and frontrunner PML-N lionises its leader Nawaz Sharif as a statesman and a developer, the man who knows how to fix the economy, beloved by a sea of flag-waving crowds.
Ads for cricket star Imran Khan - looking to make a breakthrough at the May 11 polls - offer voters a "new Pakistan" with his PTI party symbol, a cricket bat, swiping away corruption and propelling the country into the future.
"It's PTI and PML-N who are the highest spenders," said Bilal Agha, general manager for Dawn News television.
He said the Pakistan Broadcasters Association raised ad prices by 25 per cent and made political spots cash only, but that his channel had no favourites.
"Whoever pays more, gets more," he said.
Any of the 4,671 candidates for the national assembly can spend up to USD 15,000 and the 10,958 provincial assembly candidates up to USD 10,000.
