Public Service Broadcasting Nepal (PSBN)

Public Service Broadcasting Nepal (PSBN) is Nepal’s state-owned national broadcaster, created under the Public Service Broadcasting Act 2081 through the statutory transformation and merger of Radio Nepal and Nepal Television. Radio Nepal was established on 2 April 1951. The state’s monopoly over radio broadcasting ended in 1997, when Radio Sagarmatha began operating as Nepal’s first independent community radio station. Nepal Television was established on 30 January 1985 as the country’s first television broadcaster.

The Government announced its intention to merge Radio Nepal and Nepal Television in May 2023. Parliament passed the Public Service Broadcasting legislation in September 2024, the President authenticated it on 8 October, and the Act took effect on 8 November 2024. A pre-launch ceremony in January 2025 marked the beginning of PSBN’s operational transition, rather than the completion of the merger. Integration of the two predecessor institutions was still being implemented in January 2026.

Media assets

Television: NTV, NTV Plus, NTV News, NTV Kohalpur, NTV Itahari, NTV World

Radio: Radio Nepal, broadcasting through medium-wave transmitters and a national network of FM stations and relay facilities

Ownership and governance

The Public Service Broadcasting Act describes PSBN as an autonomous corporate body with perpetual succession. In practice, however, its principal governing and appointment arrangements remain dominated by the executive branch.

The Act establishes a Public Service Broadcasting Council chaired by the Minister for Communication and Information Technology or a State Minister. Operational authority rests with a Board of Directors headed by an Executive Chairperson, who also serves as the organisation’s chief executive. The chairperson is appointed by the Government following a recommendation from a three-member committee headed by the chair of the Public Service Commission or a commission member designated by the chair. The other members of the recommendation committee are the ministry secretary and an expert nominated by the ministry.

The Board also includes a senior ministry official and three members with broadcasting experience nominated by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. The chairperson and nominated members are appointed for four-year terms. The Act assigns the Board responsibility for preparing codes, standards and guidelines and for protecting editorial independence, impartiality and fairness. At the same time, the Government retains the power to issue directives to PSBN, and the minister-led council gives the executive a direct role in institutional supervision.

Dr Mahendra Bista, a former chairperson of Nepal Television and former president of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, became the first Executive Chairperson of PSBN in December 2024. He and three other PSBN appointees were removed in May 2026 under an ordinance that terminated large numbers of appointments across public institutions, which automatically ended appointments made before 26 March 2026 irrespective of tenure or terms. The Ministry subsequently reopened applications for the chairmanship in May 2026.

On 16 July 2026, the ministry nominated Urbashi Basnyat and Shobhita Risal to the Board and announced that Basnyat would preside over Board meetings until a new chairperson was appointed. Official PSBN and Radio Nepal board pages accessed on 1 August nevertheless listed ministry representative Gaurav, or Gaurab, Giri as “Chairman.” No publicly accessible appointment decision clarifying whether Giri had become substantive chairperson or was presiding in an acting capacity was confirmed.

Source of funding and budget

The Public Service Broadcasting Act establishes a PSBN fund that may receive grants from the federal Government, provincial governments and local authorities, approved foreign assistance, revenue from PSBN’s services and other lawful income. The resulting structure leaves the broadcaster dependent on public financing, although the Act also permits it to earn commercial revenue.

PSBN submitted its first annual report to the Government in May 2026. The report was described as covering the financial condition and audits of Radio Nepal and Nepal Television, but no publicly accessible consolidated audited statement showing PSBN’s total revenue, government contribution and commercial income was located. The precise government share of consolidated income could therefore not be verified.

The funding environment became more politically consequential in April 2026. On 1 April the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers issued a secretary-level directive instructing all federal, provincial and local government bodies to publish and broadcast official notices and advertisements exclusively through state-owned media, naming the Gorkhapatra Corporation, Radio Nepal and Nepal Television. The Federation of Nepali Journalists organised nationwide protests, signature campaigns and memorandums to the Speaker and the National Assembly chairperson, describing the measure as an economic blockade of the independent press, and the International Federation of Journalists adopted an urgent motion against it at its Centenary Congress in Paris in May 2026. In July 2026 the Supreme Court scrapped the directive, restoring private media’s access to official advertising; petitioners had argued that a directive from the Prime Minister’s Office could not override the constitutional authority of provincial and local governments over their own communications spending.

The episode is significant for PSBN in both directions: for three months the broadcaster was a named beneficiary of an exclusive state advertising channel, and the reversal came from the judiciary rather than from the executive that created it.

PSBN facilities were also affected by the September 2025 unrest. The premises of Nepal Television and Radio Nepal inside the Singha Durbar government complex were among the media facilities vandalised or burned. Estimates of approximately NPR 600 million in institutional damage referred to the media sector as a whole and should not be presented as a PSBN-specific loss.

Editorial independence

The Public Service Broadcasting Act introduced a formal public-service mandate and requires the Board to protect editorial independence, fairness and impartiality. These provisions represent a limited legal improvement over direct departmental broadcasting. They are not, however, backed by an arm’s-length appointment system or an independent external institution capable of enforcing editorial autonomy.

The minister chairs the governing council, the Government appoints the Executive Chairperson, the ministry directly nominates most of the other Board members, and the Government may issue directives to PSBN. No publicly accessible PSBN editorial charter establishing enforceable limits on political intervention, and no independent body with a specific statutory mandate to audit PSBN’s editorial independence, was identified. The automatic removal of PSBN’s leadership through the May 2026 ordinance also demonstrated that the statutory four-year appointment terms could be displaced through executive action.

PSBN’s institutional resilience was tested during the political unrest of September 2025, which followed a government decision to block approximately two dozen social-media platforms. At least 76 people were killed during the crisis, Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli resigned, and elections were subsequently held in March 2026. The Rastriya Swatantra Party won 182 of the 275 seats in the House of Representatives, and Balendra Shah took office as Prime Minister on 27 March 2026.

More than a dozen media organisations were attacked during the unrest. Kantipur Media Group and Annapurna Media Network were subjected to arson and vandalism; Kantipur Television’s facilities were attacked while journalists were broadcasting, and several television channels were forced off air. Nepal Television, Radio Nepal and the wider PSBN compound were also vandalised or burned. These incidents show the broadcaster’s vulnerability during a political crisis but do not, on their own, establish how the wider public perceived its editorial role.

AI and digital policy

PSBN distributes content through its websites, live radio and television streams and social-media accounts. No publicly accessible PSBN editorial policy specifically covering generative artificial intelligence, synthetic media, automated content production or disclosure of AI-assisted material was identified.

Nepal adopted a National Artificial Intelligence Policy in 2025. The policy addresses AI governance, technical standards, accountability, misinformation, disinformation and deepfakes, and calls for additional legislation and a risk-based governance framework. It is a general national policy rather than a dedicated editorial framework for PSBN or other state media.

Classification rationale

PSBN remains classified State-Controlled (SC). The 2024 Act created a separate statutory corporation, introduced a public-service mandate, provided four-year appointment terms and formally assigned the Board responsibility for editorial independence and impartiality. These are relevant countervailing features.

They do not outweigh the mechanisms of executive control. A serving minister chairs the governing council; the Government appoints the Executive Chairperson through a recommendation process in which the supervising ministry remains influential; the ministry nominates most other Board members; and the Government may issue directives to the broadcaster. PSBN is structurally dependent on public grants, and for three months in 2026 it was a named beneficiary of a government directive channelling all official advertising to state-owned media.

Events during the 2026 review period reinforced the classification. PSBN’s chairperson and three Board members were removed as part of a general executive-led termination of public appointments, despite the statutory appointment terms. Their replacements or interim successors were selected through the supervising ministry, and the public record concerning the chairmanship remained unclear at the end of the review.

July 2026