STN started its broadcast in 1990 with the name of People's Television Network (PTN) under the umbrella of Shalimar Recording Company from Islamabad.
In 1991, the name of PTN was changed to STN (Shalimar TV Network) [1] PTN under settlements with CNN International of USA and British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC of UK started rebroadcast of the programming of CNN International channel and BBC World.
[1] In 1999, NTM had to quit the airwaves because of the financial crunch, due to charges of corruption and the massification of VCRs.
[2] Right after this, STN also ended the re-broadcast programs of CNN International, BBC World and DW.
[1] In 2005, STN/Channel-3 went off the air and the parent company Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Company signed an agreement with Sports Star International to start the first ever semi-private channel of Pakistan ATV (Pakistan) channel; the collaboration stayed intact till 2018.