By a Staff Reporter
Team sports like football, volleyball, and cricket are very popular in Nepal. Cricket has especially gained popularity over the last decade. Fans of these sports are very enthusiastic, and recently, the large crowd at the TU Cricket Ground during a World Cup League-2 match caught the world’s eye.
Nepal National Cricket Team has been very popular amongst the general public lately. When Nepal played against the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup 2024 in the United States, Nepali fans replicated the environment of TU ground, Nepal’s home stadium in capital city Kathmandu. Fans are a big part of the excitement around Nepali cricket, and their presence shows how popular the game is, though not all team games have attracted large crowds.
Media, like TV and digital platforms, are crucial for bringing sports to people in Nepal. Historically, many sports in Nepal have not been broadcast as much as they could be, but this has started to improve since COVID hit the world.
TV and digital media are now broadcasting more sports events in Nepal. A few years ago, there was an attempt to create a sports-dedicated TV channel, but it didn’t walk long legs. However, Kantipur Television made an attempted of its own with the launching of Kantipur Max, a channel which was built with thought for movies and sports. But recently the focus has changed to just broadcasting sports, responding to high viewership demand.
Kantipur TV has been proactive in securing sponsors for broadcasting events, both of domestic and international level. With experience in live broadcasts of sports like cricket, football, volleyball, and basketball, the channel has become important in popularizing sports in short time, despite challenges.
Shishir Pachhai, the CEO of Kantipur Television and Radio Kantipur, is pivotal in this effort. He believes it’s important to brand sports events and has worked to ensure their commercial success, emphasizing to advertisers the sports’ potential.
Pachhai, even though is not directly involved in sports, understands its impact. He works to broadcast all types of matches, involving Nepali teams, live on TV. His efforts help bring more confidence from corporate sponsors, thanks partly to Kantipur’s longstanding reputation. Pachhai’s role also involves promoting figures like historic medalist Palesha Govardhan for Kantipur.
His career journey from working at a cash counter to becoming CEO is inspiring. He advanced through dedication, honesty, and leadership, becoming instrumental for Kantipur, especially after the 2015 earthquake, which affected their infrastructure but also offered him new challenges and responsibilities.
By this time, Pachhai had become the corporate manager at Kantipur, overseeing five departments. He helped shape the company’s structure and long-term plans. During this period, he initiated the Kantipur Conclave and the Kantipur Half Marathon, both of which became well-known events. For his efforts, Pachhai received the Excellence Award in 2018.
In 2020, during the Covid pandemic, he was able to lead F1 Soft Group, helping it grow significantly. He later returned to the Kantipur Media Group as the CEO of Television, which was both an opportunity and a challenge for him.
The economic difficulties after Covid-19 affected the media sector, and Kantipur faced issues with its employees. Pachai took the lead in addressing these challenges and played a key role in bringing everyone together to find solutions.
Although he had many responsibilities, Pachhai continued to show a strong interest in sports. He initiated a collaboration with Hamro Khelkud to promote volleyball, making live broadcasts of the sport even better with the technical expertise they possessed. Many found it surprising that a dedicated digital platform would feature volleyball, but Pachhai was willing to take that risk. He firmly believes that if sports is to develop as an industry, it will thrive.
