In protest of the Nepal government’s proposed no advertisements for foreign channels plan, the Nepal Cable Television Association and Internet and Digital Television Coordination Committee took Indian television channels off the air in Nepal for 24 hours.
They closed the distribution of foreign channels, broadcasting advertisements for 24 hours from 3 p.m. on Monday until the same time on Tuesday.
Nepalese audience were deprived of Indian shows like Ye Rishta Kya Kehlata hai & The Kapil Sharma Show after Indian channels were taken off air in Nepal. pic.twitter.com/0DPwd9x164
— Hans Singh Rajput (@HansSingh13) June 26, 2019
The move came after Nepal’s ruling K.P. Oli government registered the Advertisement (Regulation) Bill for a “clean feed” policy in the Nepal Parliament which if implemented will restrict around 200 foreign television channels, mostly Indian, from broadcasting their advertisements in the country.
The clean feed policy is expected to allow foreign channels to broadcast in the country without having foreign ads in their programming.
A media report has stated that Indian broadcasters have already made it clear that they cannot provide an advertisement free feed to Nepal as it would be commercially and technically unfeasible.
The Advertisement Regulation Bill has also irked the local Nepalese cable operators as statistics show that many popular Indian soap operas and entertainment shows are preferred by Nepalese viewers over their native content.
Indian channels like Star Plus, Zee TV and Colors are much-watched in the country with the soap opera "Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai" and the comedy "The Kapil Sharma Show" some of the most loved TV programmes for Nepalese viewers.
Indian movies are extremely popular among the people of Nepal since many speak and understand Hindi.
