ABSTRACT
Nepal's local radio stations are said to have passed their prime and are currently in a very rough patch of financial distress, facing operational inefficiencies and public rejection. The radio stations of Nepal have, besides giving free infotainment, often catalyzed democratic dialogue, raised public awareness of important issues, and helped to improve governance. Despite these sociopolitical contributions, the financial sustainability of local radio stations is in question. A radio station, as a business entity, has commercial obligations to generate regular revenue and profit. Nepali FM radio is trapped in a vicious cycle as loss of creative focus and unfair competition cause loss of revenue, the strain of which compounds creative crisis. Listenership has suffered, and a financial crisis has followed. This chapter explores a comprehensive approach for examining, measuring, and managing the drivers of corporate sustainability. The study also examines the impact of corporate strategies based on financial costs/benefits analysis. This study has adopted a mixed methods approach in which a set of structured questionnaires has been used to gather primary data, and a series of focus group discussions were conducted with radio station managers. The chapter aims to contribute toward understanding matters of sustainability for the local radio stations of Nepal.
