Since there are a lot of TV operators in Nepal, it can get quite confusing when deciding which one is the best for you. To help you with that, we have tested and compared the most popular TV operators in Nepal against each other in an effort to name the best.In this post, we are going to talk about our experience of using Clear TV, Dish Home, Max TV, Prabhu TV, and Via TV. To come to a conclusion, we have considered pricing, image quality, and availability of service of the aforementioned TV operators.

1. Pricing

Let’s start with pricing. If we only consider the Set-Top Box (STB), Max TV offers it at the least amount. On the other hand, Dish Home charges the heftiest One Time STB fee. And the high price is due to the fact that Dish Home users need to install a separate antenna to get their DTTH service running.And if you are considering paying for a year in advance, Max TV will not take any charge for the STB. Similarly, Vianet offers a 50% discount if one opts for a yearly subscription to Via TV. While it wasn’t the case in the past, a house with multiple TVs is not rare these days. So each of the cable operators discussed in this support up to four TVs. Needless to say, multi-connection requires users to pay for each Set-Top Box and a monthly fee for each additional TV. However, in the case of Dish Home, you don't need a separate antenna for every TV in your home.

Set-Top Box/Antenna cost (one time only):

*Installation charge: Rs. 500 (on Max, Prabhu, Dish home)*Refund of Rs. 500 deposit on Via TV, Clear TVUsers can not choose from multiple subscription plans with Via TV and Prabhu TV. Thus, we have only considered Premium plans for this post. Even here, Max TV turns out to be the most affordable option. As evident from the table below, the cost of Prabhu TV is almost half of what Dish Home and Subisu's Clear TV are charging for their premium users. Similarly, Via TV also ranks among the affordable ones.

Monthly cost (premium packages) 

However, when it comes to the monthly fee for additional TV(s), each operator charges almost the same amount. Also, ViaTV offers the best offer for yearly subscribers.

Cost for each extra TV (monthly) ­­­­

To sum things up, Max TV looks to be the most affordable option if you are not ready for a long time commitment. However, in the long-term, Prabhu TV can also be a decent option.

2. Coverage

When it comes to coverage, no other operators can match Dish Home as it is the only operator in the nation that offers Direct-To-Home DTH technology. Since the STB directly communicates with the satellite via the antenna, one can have an active Dish Home connection even in the remotest regions. In the past, people used to experience issues related to signal interference with Dish Home because of bad weather and such. However, the situation has now been improved to some extent. After Dish Home, we found Clear TV to have the best coverage among the cable TV operators in Nepal. In addition to its Kathmandu Head office, Clear TV has at least one branch in each five of the federal states. Max TV that uses a unique two-way technology also has similar coverage.Similarly, the IPTV services by Wordlink and Vianet is limited to places under the area covered by each ISP, respectively. Prabhu TV’s Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) signal based on Digital Video Broadcasting technology is available on Kathmandu Valley, Kaski, Chitwan, Dhankuta, Sunsari, and Morang. What we like about Prabhu TV is that it can even work with just a simple indoor antenna. However, the signal strength varies according to the region. So, in most cases, it becomes mandatory to install an outdoor antenna. Yet, the installation process is not complicated and one can do it without technical assistance.

3. Picture quality

To test the picture quality, we set up two target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> LG 55UM73 4K UHD TV side-by-side with the picture settings left untouched at the default factory setting. The difference in the picture quality is insignificant if you are using a TV that is 40-inch or smaller. Still, if you have a TV that is 43-inch or bigger, it will be better to go with either Dish Home or Clear TV because they have superior picture quality. Also, we found Prabhu TV to have the best picture quality among the remaining three contenders. However, the saturation and brightness level on the Prabhu TV is higher so at times the picture ends up looking unnatural. Also, Max TV's picture quality is among the poorest between the five.Another important thing to know is that one can notice significant delays (up to 30 seconds) on IPTV services like Via TV and Net TV compared to cable TV, which is a major disadvantage if you are into live sports. For instance, say you're watching EPL with your buddies and are live-chatting alongside as well. So, in your friends' non-IPTV broadcast, they'll have celebrated a goal and texted you about the game, while your TV still lags seconds behind—ruining the viewing experience altogether.

4. Number of channels

Talking about channels, Clear TV and Max TV offer over 300 different channels. Similarly, Via TV has 251 channels. But Via TV does not offer additional SD channels for which it already has the HD channel. Prabhu TV only has around 150 channels and still misses out on many sports channels including the likes of Ten 3 HD. But it can be forgiven given the age of the company and its pricing. Dish Home also boasts up to 200 channels with plenty of HD and SD channels to choose from.

• Also Read: Nepal formally implements Television Clean Feed Policy

5. Extra features

Talking about the extra features, Max TV offers a lot of it, more than any other TV operator on this list. Because of its two-way technology, Max TV is able to provide services like YouTube and Videos On Demand, without a dedicated internet connection. Under the “Max Education” feature, there are subject-wise videos for students of all levels from Nursery to Diploma. Similarly, users can watch content that they originally missed via Catchup TV. Max TV also supports multi-language support using which users can watch channels like Discovery, and National Geography in more than one language.However, Max TV still needs to revamp its UI and make it a bit faster than what it is now. It doesn’t offer an option to choose picture quality which was a bummer as the picture quality got unwatchably pixelated on our 55" 4K TV. However, we still commend Max TV for offering so much while still remaining the cheapest TV operator.[caption id="attachment_91912" align="alignnone" width="900"] Max TV - Extra Features[/caption]Moving on, Dish Home offers exclusive channels that include Action Sports, Ramailo TV, Comedy Plus, and more. Also, at a time when cinema halls remain closed due to COVID-19, it has been airing new Bollywood and Nepali movies like “Khali Peeli”, "Shirful", respectively on a Pay-Per-View (PPV) basis. Here, the PPV system is where a user has to pay extra cash on top of their TV subscription to watch certain exclusive content. Also, users can connect Wi-Fi dongle at the back of Dish Home’s new Setup Box to stream YouTube videos.Similarly, ViaTV offers both YouTube and PPV services as well. Additionally, users can even turn to the MOMO TV app for Nepali videos, movies, songs, and music videos. These extra features are not available on either Prabhu TV and Clear TV.

Best TV Operators in Nepal: Conclusion

So, if you are looking for the best picture quality we recommend you go with either Subisu's Clear TV or Dish Home. However, they are also among the most expensive ones. If Prabhu TV is available in your region, it is the best value for money among all the cable TV operators in Nepal in this list.Yet, if you are currently subscribed to Vianet or Wordlink's internet connection, it only makes sense for you to go for their respective IPTV services that come bundled with it—only if you're not that into watching live events and the 30-second delay is not a deal-breaker to you. Finally, Max TV offers services like YouTube, Multi-language support, Max Education, and more, all without a working internet connection which may be of use to you.

• Watch: Best TV Operators in Nepal [Nepali language]