Even as the country passes through economic difficulties, there has been a spurt of investment in the newest fad in town – private television channels. Pushed by tens of millions of rupees of investment, three metro channels and three satellite channels, of which one is already running, are preparing to beam their signals to households within the next six months or so. Though the market is small, the half a dozen new entrants and already established NTV will be vying to lure the attention of couch potatoes. Nepalese viewers, particularly the urban ones, whose current staple is the foreign channels, will now have the option of trying homegrown channels. Whether the arrival of domestic private TV channels would force them to stop surfing foreign channels remains to be seen

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Every evening, the scene at Prashant’s house resembles a battlefield. All members of his family engage in an intense struggle to get hold of the prized item – remote control. “Whoever gets hold of the remote wins the struggle of that day and as a bounty he/she enjoys his favorite program,” said Prashant.

A student of higher secondary school, Prashant enjoys watching pop songs in MTV as well as Channel Nepal. “But nobody in my house shares my point of view. My mother, a housewife, wants to see Hindi soaps that never seem to end. My two sisters want to see Bollywood movies and film songs while my father, who is a government officer, wants to see news channels and Nepal Television. Even our housemaid joins the fight demanding to see Nepali tele-serials.” Obviously, the remote control is the most sought-after trophy in his house.

Members of family watching TV : Conflict of intrests
Members of family watching TV : Conflict of intrests
In the next six months, the struggle in Prashant’s house is going to assume a different shape. Nearly half a dozen new private Nepalese television channels are all set to barge into the airspace within the next six months.

At present, Nepalese viewers, the urban ones, have a wide range of choices when it comes to watching television. Apart from the state-owned Nepal Television (NTV), they can watch more than 40 foreign channels through cable. The major cable operator Spacetime also broadcasts its own Channel Nepal, which is getting popular among the viewers. Both NTV and Channel Nepal are beamed via satellite and can be viewed even outside the country.

Apart from these two, viewers can now shortly enjoy the entry of half a dozen new Nepalese channels. Among the five new entrants, three are metro channels that would be broadcasting their programs free-to-air terrestrially, which include NTV’s metro channel, Kantipur Television and Image metro. Shangri-la channel and Avenues television will be using satellite to beam their programs. The Chinese government is undertaking a turnkey metro channel project for the NTV. “We expect the Chinese side, who are constructing the building and facilities, to hand over the channel sometime next May/June,” said Tapanath Shukla, general manager of NTV. The Chinese government has provided Rs.520 million worth assistance in this project.

Another keenly awaited channel is the Kantipur Television. “Kantipur Publications and some other investors have joined hands in investing in this project. We had planned to start our operations on February 19, 2003. But it seems that due to delays in construction and other things, we could be forced to postpone it by another two/three months,” said Hem Raj Gyawali, publisher and chairman of the Kantipur Publications. Given the vast experience of Kantipur Publications in print as well as audio (FM radio) media, people are particularly keen to watch its television venture.

Image metro channel, on the other hand, is ready to start its operations. “We have tested our equipment. We will start our test transmission immediately after the Ministry of Communication gives us a go ahead signal,” said R. K. Manandhar, president of Image metro channel. Image also has a vast experience in the entertainment sector. For the last six years it has been transmitting its program via NTV (after buying time-slots). It also runs a FM radio. “We were already an established player as far as producing programs is concerned. The only new thing is that now we are preparing to come out as a full-fledged independent broadcaster,” said Manandhar. He said the investment in the Image metro is around Rs.100 million.

Flooded by foreign channels : Variety rules
Flooded by foreign channels : Variety rules
All the three metro channels would initially be airing their program within Kathmandu valley. While news-based programs could be the forte for Kantipur Television, the other two could be mixing both information and entertainment.

Among the satellite-huggers, NTV and Channel Nepal are already in the existence. The national channel of NTV has a nation-wide reach whereas Channel Nepal, which uses cable lines, is slowly expanding its reach among the urban viewers. Their signals can also reach beyond the national frontier.

The upcoming satellite broadcasters include Avenues Television and Shangri La. Avenues is owned by Ad Avenues, a premier advertising agency, and it had bought the rights for broadcasting the World Cup 2002 early this year. “We do not lack experience in this sector. We plan to air our programs by the end of March next year and we will be concentrating on information-based programs,” said Bhaskar Rajkarnicar, chief of the Ad Avenues. According to him, there is investment of Rs.320 million in this project.

Shangri-La is not new to this sector, either. It has been running day-time television by buying time from NTV for couple of years. “We had to withdraw from the day-time project because it made loss. Anyway, we are now set to start our independent broadcasting operation within February/March next year,” said Nir Shah, chief of Shangri-La, which also runs a wireless channel distributing network. According to him , there has been around Rs.110-120 million investment, for the first three years, in this project.

Software Challenge

The present variety of choice enjoyed by viewers is a far cry from those days (less than a decade ago) when NTV used to be their sole window to the world. So when different players are coming up with new channels pumping in tens of millions of rupees, it would all depend on the software content on who wins the race of the prime-time war. They will not only have to compete amongst themselves but also the foreign channels, which presently enjoy the bulk of viewers’ attention.

Sensing the competition it has to face shortly, the NTV has already devised a strategy to keep its viewers loyal. “We are now producing ace soaps. For the metro channel, we will also be producing game shows,” said Shukla.

For Kantipur Television, its vast pool of resources in the news-based sector is expected to push it ahead of its competitors in information genre. Likewise, Image and Shangri-La will be falling back on their own programs. As they had years of experience in producing music videos, telefilms and other entertainment programs, they would be counting on the very same pattern to keep them afloat in the days ahead. Initially, the Image channel
will be airing 3-4 hours in the morning and 4-5 hours in the evening. Shangri-La, too, will be starting with 8 hours daily program. The Avenues television also plans to air initially for 6 hours daily. Channel Nepal is already airing 18 hours everyday.

Producing quality software is the greatest challenge these channels will face. “Indeed, the greatest challenge before us is to be able to produce quality programs,” said Manandhar. He believes that broadcasters should not engage in production of programs. “I think it will be better to allow professional production houses to produce such programs as they will have the necessary expertise,” he said.

Music videos are the most favorite software content of these channels currently as they are cheaper to produce and are equally popular among young viewers. But merely showing music videos or music and film-based programs will not suffice once you enter as full-fledged broadcaster. News-based programs, tele-serials (soap operas) and game-shows, too, form an integral part of program package. And they need heavy investment as well.

“It is good to see that many new Nepalese channels are going to start their operations. It will also have positive effect on entire art and entertainment sector particularly the Nepalese film industry,” said Yadav Kharel, prominent director and former president of Nepal Film Development Board. He also sees software content as the biggest challenge for these channels.

Crowd Of Channels

The interest of so many investors in the television sector in a small market like Nepal has surprised many. Although many countries these days have multiple television channels, the fact that Nepalese population, that can afford to watch television, being so small, nobody had thought even few years ago that there would be so much investment in this area.

Apart from the state-owned Nepal Television, the market will now have to play host to five other private channels. In fact, NTV general manager Shukla likens it as the latest fad in town. “We always seem to have some sort of fashion here. Right now we are having a private TV fashion,” he said. According to him, the government has been too liberal in granting license for broadcasting TV channels. “Anyway, now the government needs to set up a regulatory body to monitor and guide this sector,” he said.

Agrees Manandhar. “Of course, we have an open market economy and everybody is welcome to make their investment. But when giving license the government ought to have maintained certain regulations. Merely inviting a crowd of investors to the same sector will only help in its overkill.” Nir Shah also thinks it was unreasonable decision on the part of the government to give license to so many players.

Gyawali, on the other hand, believes that allowing more players would help in the polishing of qualities. “We have been granted license as per the government’s liberal communication policy. So, now we have to play in the competition and win the heart of people.”

Skeptics think that crowd of channels could result in unhealthy competition resulting in sharp slashing down of advertising rates, which will eventually make everyone a loser. But the optimists believe more will be merrier both in terms of quality and growth.

Recently, the government has also set up a committee to suggest improvements for the development, management and operation of electronic media. “We are currently studying this sector and we will be making our suggestions in next 2 to 3 weeks,” said Bharat Dutta Koirala, senior journalist and coordinator of the committee.

Sharing The Same Ad Pie

The basic financial component of all television channels is the revenue it generates from advertisements and commercials. At present, the total annual advertisement turnover of Nepal stands at around Rs.2 billion, according to Bhaskar Rajkarnicar, who is also the president of Advertisement Agencies Association of Nepal. This turnover includes both print and electronic, indoor and outdoor advertisements.

Out of this total turnover television advertisement market occupies merely Rs.250 million. Till now, this television ad market was exclusively cornered by NTV and to a certain extent Channel Nepal. Once new players come into action, this ad revenue will have to spread itself.

So, how will all these channels sustain? Even as the economic situation of the country is falling from bad to worse, these new channels are putting up a brave face. While all agree that the short term prospects do not look bright, they all agree that they will bounce back once the country’s tide turns. Nir Shah says that as his channel would be transmitted via satellite, he will have the opportunity to cater to not only Nepal but the regional market as well.

Rajkarnicar believes that the market of television commercials will grow by 25-30 percent once new channels come. “I think this market will reach to Rs.320 million within six months.”

Despite the optimistic projections, one is bound to assume that once the ad revenues spread, there could be unhealthy competition among the broadcasters to corner the lion’s share of the market, which could result in negative consequences. It will also shape the struggle that rages in Prashant’s house in the days to come.