Urdu Times is the brain child of Khalil Ur Rehman, a first generation Pakistani immigrant who lives in New York with his family. With the help of his wife, two computers, a fax machine and a telephone he publishes Urdu Times from the basement of his house in Queens. With 14 editions and 100000 weekly copies Urdu Times is one of the most successful ethnic newspapers in New York. The newspaper has been going from strength to strength and now Rehman is looking for partners in Dubai, South East Asia and Australia.
While newspapers in US are facing with dwindling circulations and drop in advertisement many ethnic newspapers including Urdu Times are thriving.
The secret to their success is growing immigrant population and low cost of production. In case of Urdu Times the newspaper is actually produced and drafted in Lahore by a staff of 18 people. The copies then are sent to New York via Email for proofreading and subsequently printing and distribution.
The free newspaper from New York was first published in 1980 and now is distributed not only in Big Apple but also in Washington D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto), Montreal, London, Birmingham and Manchester.
The prosperous Pakistani diaspora in US played a major role in success of Urdu Times. Pakistani community increasingly using Urdu Time as a preferred media to advertise everything from Halal meats to phone cards. The Urdu Times has also organized international Urdu conferences in North America.
