Author: admin

Feb 01, Kathmandu

Yagyambar Shrestha

Nepal Rastra Bank Ltd. issued a notice on the 31st of January, banning all advertisements through social media as well as any online foreign transaction. However, the issue has been raised so many times in the past for the government to legalize online transactions through Nepal. The directive directly mentions this to be an illegal act, but has not given any proper way around. The directive simply bans sponsored ads in Social Media.

For more than 150 + IT Companies and Digital marketing agencies the directive seems to be a nightmare as there is no possible option to legalize this as of now according to Nepal Rastra Bank’s directive. A month ago, there was an informal information that the government is planning to assign a handful of companies or banks as a partner for validating and initiating transactions which seemed to be a quite positive move, but the notice that was issued yesterday does not mention any such move and simply bans advertising on Social Media as well as any online foreign transactions . But what we need to understand is this also will ban IT companies from buying international domains and hosting as well. However, there are a handful of IT companies providing this service in Nepal, to whom we can pay in Nepalese currency, but again the question is how will these companies manage to pay to their foreign counterparts.

Opening a USD account or trying to legalize social media advertising has not been an easy task in Nepal. Even if some company assigns a foreign company as a partner and tries to legalize the process for Social Media Advertising, the payment is to be sent taking approval each time from the Central Bank, which had been a hasty and lengthy process. The charges of the foreign partner as well as the taxes would add up extra burden to the end customers. Therefore, a proper system to channelize foreign online transaction is much needed, but assigning a handful of providers will drive monopoly, if this system is to be properly legalized then all banks should be given this facility so that we have a freedom to choose amongst. Moreover, if the government gives a proper solution about this IT companies, digital marketing agencies as well as the government and customers are all in a win-win situation, as the cost will be beneficial to all.

As for the revenue from Adsense, youtube, instant articles & affiliate marketing, if as per the government’s initiative is routed through banking channels, there is nothing to panic as the income would be legalized.

For digital marketing agencies this move of the government is positive as it would drive healthy competition and good companies will be competing in the arena. However, this directive seems to have been brought forward in a hurry without providing a proper alternative or way out. Lets be hopeful that the government brings out a proper alternative very soon, as the more sooner the more merrier for all.

(Article Published : Feb 01, 2020)

Radio Nepal is the state-owned radio in Nepal that enjoyed monopoly in the market from its establishment in 1951 to 1997. It has broadcasting centers in all five development regions and reaches almost the entire population through its short and medium waves. The monopoly was broken in May 1997 when the first independent radio station – Radio Sagarmatha – began operation as a community FM radio run by the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ). In the two decades after the first independent radio station was established, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC) has granted licenses to 736 FM radio stations. Forty-eight of them are centered in the Kathmandu Valley and others are spread across the nation. Radio is considered the most impactful and accessible media in Nepal. The Sharecast Initiative’s 2016 survey shows that 59 percent of households own radio sets whereas 98 percent of households own mobile phones. The mobile phones are important radio-listening devices as 69 percent of those listening to radio listen to it on mobile phones. More than half of the population listens to radio every day. Another important aspect of radios in Nepal is that private radio stations are allowed to broadcast news and news-based programmes. Nepal is the only country in the South Asia region that allows the private radio stations to broadcast news. Another unusual aspect of Nepal’s radios is the self-created syndication in the news broadcasting. Dominant FM stations such as Nepal FM, Ujyaalo, Nepalbani and ACORAB have created alliances or networks of radio stations for sharing news content. Other major players except state-owned Radio Nepal include Radio Kantipur and Image FM, Radio Kantipur of Nepal’s biggest media house Kantipur Media Group claims to reach 75 percent of the population by setting up 8 separate radio stations all over Nepal that relay all programming from the Kathmandu station. Image FM has 7 such stations all over Nepal while minor players include Capital FM, which has 3 stations in three major cities.

The share of digital advertising out of the overall advertising market comprising print, TV, radio and other media has swelled to 10 percent from 5 percent two years ago, according to AAAN. The number of mobile users has rapidly grown in Nepal which also contributes to a bigger share in Social Media Development in Nepal. SMM is emerging as an effective way to promote products and services on a small budget with geo targeting and reporting base. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Viber are among the popular social media sites in Nepal. Internet World Stats, an international website on internet usage data, shows that there were 8.7 million Facebook users in Nepal as of December 2017.YouTube and Instagram have been growing as effective platforms for social media marketing, The reach of Instagram is also growing gradually, and popular in the new age generation. The main reason behind the rapid development of Social Media Marketing activities in Nepal is that the traditional media is very expensive and least impactful. Whereas SMM platform is less expensive as compared. Even small advertisers can advertise through Social Media.

The first official state owned newspaper in Nepal is Gorakhapatra which has a history of more than 100 years. The first private commercial daily newspaper is Kantipur which began publication in 1993. The circulation of newspapers has increased since then. The largest circulation is of Kantipur which sums around 350,000 copies, as per its claim. Other media houses claim their circulation of Nepali-language dailies at up to 200,000 per day. The most important media companies are: the Kantipur Media Group, Asia-Pacific Communication Associates Nepal Pvt Ltd, Gorkhapatra Corporation, Nepal Republic Media. The print media published by each of these publication houses are outlined below: Kantipur Media Group: Kantipur (daily), The Kathmandu Post (English language daily), Nepal (weekly magazine), Saptahik (weekly tabloid) and Nari (monthly specialised magazine). Nepal Republic Media Private Limited: Nagarik (daily), Republica (English language daily), Sukhrabar (weekly tabloid) Gorkhapatra Corporation: Gorkhapatra (weekly), The Rising Nepal (English language daily), Madupark, Muna and Yuvamanch (monthly specialised magazines). Nepal News Network (3NI) Private Limited: Annapurna Post(Nepali language daily), and Annapurna Express (English language weekly tabloid). All of the above media houses, except state-owned Gorkhapatra Corporation, have cross-media ownership. Kantipur Media Group also owns a radio station, a popular television channel and a subsidiary, Kantipur Digital Corp, that has investment in technology companies and runs all digital news operation of the publication; Nepal Republic Media owns a radio station; whereas 3NI owns a radio station and a television channel. According to the Press Council of Nepal, there are 3,865 registered newspapers across the country with 655 dailies, 30 bi-weeklies, 2,778 weeklies and 402 fortnightlies. Among them, 1,640 are registered in the Kathmandu Valley. But not all of those registered newspapers are published. In total, 189 newspapers are published every day in Nepal but only the top few mainstream Nepali- language newspapers published in the capital Kathmandu have agenda-setting strength. two weekly newsmagazines – Nepal and Himal, are commercial publications that are popular and are agenda setters.

The most popular and highest circulated weeklies in Nepal are tabloids targeting young readers, with contents focusing on sex, gossip, entertainment and sports. These include Saptahik and Sukrabar, claimed circulation of both standing at around 200,000 copies per issue. There are no freesheets published in Nepal.