Nepal brings Clean Feed Policy making foreign channels ad-free to boost domestic industry

Nepal on October 23 implemented a clean-feed policy in the country, making foreign television channels free from international advertisement. The policy implemented on October 23 by the Information and Communication Ministry of Nepal is expected to provide the domestic advertisement industry a boost. Similar to clean-feed policy is practiced in almost all advanced nations, where foreign TV channels are required to publish only domestic advertisements in order to cater to the domestic audience. 

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The policy has impacted mostly India channels, which dominate the Nepali television industry. Many channels have been taken down by the Ministry of Information and Communication due to their non-compliance with the policy. According to news agency ANI, a notice is flashing on the screen of foreign channels that have gone off-air in the country due to the newly-implemented policy. The notice informs about the provisions of the new policy, that was introduced last year and had a deadline of October 23. 

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'Historic' new policy

Information and Communication Minister Parbat Gurung said in a press briefing earlier this week that apart from some foreign television channels, all are publishing advertisements made by international advertisers for which Nepali people are paying monthly charges and the domestic advertisement industry is shrinking. Gurung informed that the new policy allows local signal distributors to replace foreign advertisements with local ones. Gurung hailed the new Advertisement Regulations Act - 2019 as "historic" and also urged everyone to follow. 

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(Image Credit: ANI)