The administrative block of Nepal TelevisionThe studio block of Nepal Television
Several attempts are being made by media stakeholders to convert and transform NTV into a truly Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) entity. NTV, being currently owned by the government, has lost its editorial independence and is blamed for continuously being a government mouthpiece.[4][5] Mr. Nir Shah was the first chairman.
History
The Nepali government signed an agreement with French government company Sofratev on 14 February 1982 to conduct a preliminary study of the feasibility of a television network in the country for 30 days.[6] Before its creation, Nepal was already receiving spillover signals from India.[7] Its broadcasts started in January 1985 with limited resources, a 30-minute daily schedule and 400 television sets available in the country. In February 1986, it became a full fledged corporation under the Communication Act of His Majesty's Government.[8]
Finance Minister Prakash Chandra Lobani had visited Tokyo in January 1986 and wanted Japanese technicians to help enter Nepal into the television age.[9] By the late 1990s, NTV was broadcasting from 5:30pm to just after 10pm daily, with a supplementary period in the mornings (6:30am to 8am, with some productions from Image Channel) and an additional period on Saturday afternoons from 12pm.[10]
In December 2012, the Intelligence Bureau of India flagged Nepal Television as a "hate channel" allegedly broadcasting anti-India programming. It was one of the twenty-four "illegal" channels to have been flagged.[11]
