nepalradio.org - Radio Broadcasting in Nepal

Radio Station Information

Radio Station Information Details

This web section contains short information on the licensed or operational radio stations in Nepal. This includes the contact details and updates on new radio stations licensed by Ministry of Information & Communication.

Page Menu

■ Home Page

■ Radio Broadcasting in Nepal

■ Radio Station Information

■ Audience Survey Reports

■ Signal Propagation Maps

■ FM Station Rate Cards

■ Broadcast Technology

■ Media Organizations

■ Support & Services

■ Download & Links

■ Message Board

■ Radio Nepal

■ Equal Access Nepal

Any Questions?

You can submit your queries and questions related to this section or anything else on radio broadcasting, digital audio and ICT tools.

Submit your question

Monthly Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter delivers most of the information on this website directly to your email.

Newsletter would be delivered to your mailbox by the first week of every month starting from March 2008.

Go to subscription page

Current Status

Broadcasting and wireless operation frequencies are issued by Frequency Division, Ministry of Information & Communication, Government of Nepal. The FM radio licenses are basically categorized and taxed according to their operational transmitter power. Officially, there is no other classification such as commercial or community radios.

As on August, 2009. the status of FM radio and TV broadcasting is as the following:

Number of FM radio licenses issued:

323

Operational FM radio stations:

186

Operational FM radio transmitters:

195

Multiple channel FM broadcasters:

Multiple site FM broadcasters

FM broadcasters with satellite uplink:

Number of TV broadcasting licenses:

Multiple channel FM broadcasters are the radio broadcasters operating with more than one FM channel at a specific location. Kalika FM, for example, broadcasts 95.2 MHz and 91.0 MHz from Bharatpur. Multiple site broadcasters have their stations operating at different locations in the country at the same frequency or different frequencies. Kantipur FM, for example, broadcasts from 8 locations in the country at 96.1 and 101.8 MHz.

FM radio transmitters on basis of the transmitter power (Watts)

Transmitter Power	Licensed	Operational	Closed
10 watts	1	0	0
20 watts	2	0	0
50 watts	13	3	0
100 watts	112	41	0
250 watts	24	17	0
500 watts	79	62	1
1,000 watts	51	48	1
2,000 watts	7	4	0
2,500 watts	0	0	0
5,000 watts	0	0	0
10, 000 watts	1	1	0
Total	290	176	2

FM radio license holder (radio operating organization) - operational ones

Organization Type	Licensed	Operational	Closed
Non-Governmental (NGO)	117	58	0
Cooperatives	34	23	0
Private Company	117	82	2
Local Government Bodies	2	2	0
School & Colleges	2	1	0
Radio Nepal	11	10	0

The organizational status of 7 radio license in unknown.

For details on these, please go to the frequencies index page.

Contact information, program schedule and rate cards of radio stations

Please click here to go to the radio broadcasters' index page for the associated details of the operational radio stations. You may also check the frequency sheet to look for the listing in order of licenses issued or operational status.

Radio Broadcasters' Contacts Index Sheet

Radio Nepal

Radio Nepal is the national broadcaster with maximum geographic coverage and highest audience listenership in Nepal*. Radio Nepal runs its transmission in Short Wave (SW), Medium Wave (MW) and Frequency Modulation (FM) frequencies from the different locations in Nepal.

Please click here for quick details on Radio Nepal.

Frequencies at Kathmandu valley

In Nepal, Kathmandu valley is the most crowded place in terms of FM radio frequencies ranging from 87.6 MHz to 107.4 MHz. As on March 1, 2008 the audible radio stations at the Kathmandu valley is +29. Analog tuning has now become more difficult with more frequencies on pipeline and new radio stations operating around the valley.

The list of frequencies tunable at Kathmandu valley is available here.

Facts & Figures

The Broadcast Audience Survey (BAS 2006-2007) shows that 65% of the country is covered by one of more of the FM radio signals for comfortable tuning to the radio frequencies. This percentage increases to 75% when calculated for the lowest signal level that can be received by a highly sensitive radio set.
Housewives and shop owners are the most radio listening group in the country (32% each) while students (13%) are found to be the next most listening group in the country.
Radio is available and accessible in 82% of Nepalese household while 59% of household has television, telephone 30%, newspaper 13%, magazines 5% and internet 1%.
76% of radio sets owned have both AM and FM tuners while around 7% of radio sets are only tunable to AM bands such as Medium Wave and Short wave.
56% of radio sets owned in the country are Chinese brands, while 37% of radio sets are Indian and 2.7% Japanese. 1.8 percent of radio sets are from rest of the countries.
Radio is the most preferred source of information and entertainment with 64%, followed by television - 35%, newspapers 0.8% and internet 0.1%.
FM radio is the most preferred (84.7%) frequency band among the radio bands, followed by Medium Wave (MW – 44.6%) and Short Wave (SW – 16.5%).
The peak radio listening time is 6:00am – 8:00am in the morning and 6:00pm -10:00pm in the evening.