Nepal Media Landscape
Maastricht (NL): European Journalism Centre (2018), 16 pp.
"Nepal’s media landscape is characterised by two important factors. First, the high number of radio stations that are spread across the country at a local level and have a greater reach to the overall population. As media researcher Badri Paudyal noted in the 2013 article Radio Broadcasting: Access and Functioning, the overall radio service in Nepal is established as a strong, popular and credible medium of information with a large following of listeners. In 2008, in an article titled Radio and the Recent Political Changes in Nepal, media commentator Pratyoush Onta cites radio’s large coverage, citizens’ access to radio, and the plurality in terms of language of broadcast as the main reasons for the popularity of radio as a mass media.
Second, the mainstream newspapers that are mostly centered in the Kathmandu Valley, a combination of three administrative districts with the capital, Kathmandu, and have greater impact at the political level. The mainstream print newspapers are the agenda setters in Nepal. The overall print circulation is low because of the difficult geographical terrain, the high recurring costs for both publishers and readers, and the adult literacy rate at only around 60 percent of the population. Newspapers are mainly sold in the Kathmandu Valley and cities, thus having a greater impact on political and policy issues. The overall readership and the number of print newspapers are rising; however, these are competing for advertisements in a small, fragile economy for their revenues; many of them are also not profitable. The annual advertising market is estimated to be approximately 40m euro. There are muted accusations
that media owners continue to lose money on newspapers to gain political or economic benefits in their other interests.
However, the growing number of television stations and the digital news outlets are all set to change the dynamics of the media landscape in Nepal. More than a hundred televisions channels have received licenses for operation in a country of 29 million people. Although Nepal lacks reliable data on television viewership, many believe that televisions, especially the primetime news bulletins, have a large audience, yet they only receive around 20 percent of total advertising expenditures. Most of the television stations focus on news-based programming as they are relatively cheaper and easier to produce in the studio." (Overview)
Second, the mainstream newspapers that are mostly centered in the Kathmandu Valley, a combination of three administrative districts with the capital, Kathmandu, and have greater impact at the political level. The mainstream print newspapers are the agenda setters in Nepal. The overall print circulation is low because of the difficult geographical terrain, the high recurring costs for both publishers and readers, and the adult literacy rate at only around 60 percent of the population. Newspapers are mainly sold in the Kathmandu Valley and cities, thus having a greater impact on political and policy issues. The overall readership and the number of print newspapers are rising; however, these are competing for advertisements in a small, fragile economy for their revenues; many of them are also not profitable. The annual advertising market is estimated to be approximately 40m euro. There are muted accusations
that media owners continue to lose money on newspapers to gain political or economic benefits in their other interests.
However, the growing number of television stations and the digital news outlets are all set to change the dynamics of the media landscape in Nepal. More than a hundred televisions channels have received licenses for operation in a country of 29 million people. Although Nepal lacks reliable data on television viewership, many believe that televisions, especially the primetime news bulletins, have a large audience, yet they only receive around 20 percent of total advertising expenditures. Most of the television stations focus on news-based programming as they are relatively cheaper and easier to produce in the studio." (Overview)
