TV or not TV

Gone are the days where a television set was a hefty cathode ray tube apparatus in the living room hooked up to an antenna on the roof: a sign of prosperity, a cherished investment to outlast youngsters watching cartoons. 

TVs today are thinner, sleeker, bigger, and smarter. And although Nepalis are buying more of them, their screen time is also being increasingly shared with mobile phones. 

“A decade ago our best sellers were 24 or 32-inch TVs, but there was a drastic change around the 2018 Football World Cup,” recalls Alok K Gupta, General Manager at Samsung Electronics in Nepal. “Nepalis are buying more 43 or 55-inch models right now.” 

Gupta notes that big sporting events like the World Cup, the recent T20 World Cup and the Euros, cause up to 30% spikes in TV sales in Nepal. There is also a surge in demand during the festive season like the upcoming Dasain, with sales almost doubling because of salary bonuses. 

New TVs do not just have larger, sharper screens but also have more intelligent software, and can connect to the internet making it possible to watch streaming videos on YouTube or Netflix. 

With more than 3 million Nepalis working overseas, and sending money home, there is more exposure to bigger television sets, and an increased ability to afford them. Returning Nepalis are also bringing TVs back with them, a trend that might increase after the current budget removed duty on tellys regardless of screen size. 

“People are now more savvy about the tech they buy,” explains Gupta. “They want new things faster. In the past, people bought a TV to last a generation, but now much of our sales are people looking to replace or upgrade their sets.”  

But are buyers doing their homework, or are TV companies getting better at advertising? From consumer habits it looks like middle class Nepalis are buying a new set just to shift the TV they already have into the bedroom. 

Consumer electronics is also about planned obsolescence, with companies intentionally making products with short life cycles that need software upgrades, or that are superseded by sets that have better picture quality and other features. 

Samsung’s CE-Biz first tapped into the replacement market by building arkostore.com for customers who were curious about how much money they could get back for returning their current set. CE also runs its own financing on all Samsung devices, allowing monthly payment at 0% interest. 

Samsung has a killswitch that will turn off a customer’s TV or smartphone if they fail to make their instalment payment, although the company has not put a similar feature (out of mercy?) on its washing machines or fridges.

The popularity of home theatres with wide flat screens indicates that Nepalis who can afford it are tired of watching videos on tiny mobile screens.  ­­

Content is king

With TV sets now capable of streaming, and the spread of broadband internet, Nepalis are watching more international programs on their tellies than domestically-produced fare.  

“The content of Nepali TV has always been pretty weak,” admits Prashant Aryal, formerly with Kantipur TV. “Nepal started late to begin with in 1984 and did not reach maturity before social media took over. Nepali TV never evolved from he-said, she-said content.” 

NTV and Kantipur TV still have the highest ratings for news and current affairs, but for entertainment most Nepalis used TVs to tune into Indian channels with entertainment serials. And although Nepali films have started being accepted into international festivals and even winning awards, non-news domestic TV content has always been mediocre.

One reason for the poor quality of TV programs is that there were relatively few people with TV skills. Television channels have had to bring in journalists from print, and plunk them in front of a camera. Since entertainment content costs money,  journalists all ended up doing studio talk shows. 

No wonder, the content that has thrived and become a Nepali TV trend are fiery talk shows like Rishi Dhamala's Janata Janna Chahanchha or Rabi Lamichhane’s populist Sida Kura Janata Sanga before he established the RSP as an alternative political party in 2022. 

Other established TV channel talk show hosts like Bhusan Dahal, Dil Bhusan Pathak, Vijay Kumar Pandey, or Tika Ram Yatri have all moved to YouTube.

A particularly good TV show may be approached by sponsors just on the quality of the content. Sometimes producers tie up with sponsors to make shows. Sometimes the company might do it out of its own pocket. The main source of revenue is advertising, which has largely moved to the net. 

“When I was at Kantipur TV, it was three years before we broke even,” recalls Suresh Paudyal at AP1 TV and 28 years in the television sector. Paudyal adds,“Everybody wants to put three chairs in a studio and do a talk show, while Nepal is brimming with stories that could make great documentaries.” 

Paudyal is currently also director of the singing franchise show Nepal Idol, which is in its fifth edition. The show is a rare instance in which investors did decide to chip in big time, even paying a heavy franchise fee. 

“I even went to see an episode of Indian Idol and they had such a big production that it seemed impossible to execute a Nepali version,” he says. “But even the Maldives were doing it, so we went ahead.”

Nepal Idol was able to secure a good title sponsorship, and ratings have held, although what Paudyal really wants is the show to grow bigger every year. 

All in all, the content side of linear Nepali TV channels is bleak. But, Nepali entrepreneurs are starting up streaming services like Paradygm TV, and there are producers with better video skills both home and abroad.

Perhaps the lack of quality is the perfect starting place for young, talented, and driven professionals who are passionate about TV. There is nowhere to go but up.