Nepal Government has implemented the Clean Feed Policy from Kartik 8, 2077. The Television Clean feed has been a topic of discussion for years. This time, the Government has successfully realized the removal of foreign TV ads in Nepal with clean feed. Ministry of Communication and Infrastructure has also formed an advertising board that would monitor the implementation of clean feed in Nepal, informs Minister (MoCIT) Mr. Parbat Gurung.
After the implementation of the Clean Feed in Television, no foreign ads have shown up in the Nepali TV broadcast space. Some people feel irritated with foreign ads, as they are not relevant and contextual for Nepal. Now you have a sigh of relief and have a good TV viewing experience, with a Clean feed.
Having many advantages, this policy also hurts TV fanatics for their inability to watch several TV channels and programs like EPL and IPL in Nepal. More detailed information for the Clean feed in Nepal and the removal of several TV packages follows below.
What is a Clean Feed Policy?
As we all know, the broadcasting system of our country has been feeding us foreign channels along with their advertisements for a long time. It means there was no medium between a foreign sender and a domestic receiver that would filter the TV channel content.
Several countries have policies to control and analyze the distribution of channels on television, such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan; however, they have their mechanism of controlling the foreign feed. But, there were no barriers to foreign channels to feature their content and advertisement in Nepal until now.
After the implementation of the Clean Feed policy as per the Advertising Act 2076, the television broadcasting system of Nepal is not allowed to broadcast foreign advertisements. All the TV broadcasts are now clean or free from any foreign ads. Digital transmission of the TV content enables such clean feed TV broadcasts, whereas they need to get such content from the service providers/broadcasters (Foreign TV providers).
This barricade of foreign ads applies in both live feed and recorded feeds. As they put the Clean feed TV into effect, the TV service provider should not even dub the foreign ads in the Nepali language and transmit it.
A governmental body (Advertising Board) will consistently monitor the broadcasting in Nepal and will take legal action against the concerned TV station that fails to follow the rule. The rule has it that they will impose a fine from Rs 1 lakh to 5 lakhs for those who publish or broadcast against the Advertising Act.
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Around 180 channels to Cut off
According to the President of Nepal Cable Television Association, Sudhir Parajuli, only 32 foreign channels are broadcasting clean feed content from Friday midnight. More than 180 channels have been stop to feature for the time being, which includes a large number of Indian TV channels.
12 ‘Zee’ channels and 8 ‘Sony’ channels qualify the clean feed policy and continue the broadcast, whereas Stars, BBC, CNN, Colors, and cartoon channels didn’t make it to the list. Among several Indian news channels, only Zee news will continue the broadcast. Other news channels have not even shown interest to broadcast in Nepal with Clean Feed. Similarly, apart from the paid package, 120 channels available for free on the ‘free to air’ TV package are also stopped.
Similarly, Popular news Channels like BBC and CNN are also not available currently due to the CLEAN Feed.
No broadcast of EPL And IPL in Nepal for Now
With the clean feed, the cable operators could not broadcast the several TV channels, including the STAR packages, that contain Star Sports Channel. With the closure of those channels, Nepali viewers are unable to watch EPL (English Premier League) football and IPL (Indian Premier League) Cricket. Now they have to rely on some OTT apps subscription or unofficial broadcasts to watch EPL and IPL.
Several TV service providers like WorldLink (NetTV), DishHome, ViaNet, Subisu (Clear TV) have published a notice for their inability to broadcast few TV channels as the broadcasters could not deliver the clean feed to them.
Update: IPL is back in Nepal, with most of the Nepali TV service providers from the Start Sports 1 TV channel (which is not HD for now).
Now the notice is being shown in those TV channels where they had to stop broadcasting, due to the unavailability of the clean content.
Vianet displays the following information in those stopped TV channels. “As per the directive of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of Nepal, this channel is currently unavailable due to non-compliance to CLEAN FEED Policy implemented from 23rd October/7th Kartik 2077.”
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Upside and downside of Implementation of Clean Feed in Nepal
The absence of clean feed has directly affected the Nepali advertising industry. So on the upside, the Nepali advertising industry will have an opportunity to grow its business. The policy will help create employment in the domestic advertising field. They believe that Clean Feed implementation will have a 40% growth in the domestic advertisement industry. But they also need to be competent enough to produce quality ads to satisfy foreign TV content providers.
With the implementation of clean feed, our television screen will become foreign ad-free, and that would automatically create space for Nepali advertisements. It will help Nepali brands and products to reach larger households, which will have a positive impact on their business.
Similarly, on the downside, the implementation of clean feed is likely to increase the cost of the television channels. The high bill may lead to a decrease in TV viewership with the possibility of audiences choosing IPTV over cable TV as it is comparatively cheap. That’s why IPTV service is getting a slight backlash from cable TV providers.
Regulations for IPTV and OTT platforms
Cable operators who were resisting to implement the clean feed for a long time, are demanding clean feed for IPTV and OTT platforms. As they are not under such regulations, it is not a level playing field for the Cable TV broadcasters.
The audiences can watch the contents of cable television on IPTV and OTT (Over The Top) apps with an internet connection on smartphones and laptops. It is easily accessible and cheaper than a cable TV connection. As per them, these applications do not contribute to the country’s economy. Whereas the cable television operators are paying these taxes and losing viewers to OTT apps.
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Let us know your feedback on the Clean feed and its implementation in Nepal, in the comment section below.
