Nepalese man sets record for longest broadcast with 62-hour television marathon

Rabi Lamichhane, 36, right, a former radio and television journalist in Nepal, currently lives in Baltimore in the United States (AFP)

A Nepalese man has set a world record for the longest broadcast by a television presenter after remaining on air for 62 hours and 12 minutes.

Rabi Lamichhane, 36, a former radio and television journalist in Nepal, currently lives in Baltimore in the United States, where he is the manager of a branch of the sandwich chain Subway.

He interviewed 100 guests during the marathon broadcast, entitled “Lord Buddha Was Born in Nepal”, including a number of Nepalese celebrities, the former Maoist rebel leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the Indian ambassador to Nepal. He was on air long enough to grow a beard.

The programme was aimed at spreading the message of Buddha’s birthplace and promoting tourism.

It was shown on the Nepalese television station News 24, and live-streamed on its website and a number of partner websites. Under Guinness World Records rules, Mr Lamichhane was allowed a break of five minutes every hour.

His performance broke the previous record by Pavlo Kuzheyev and Tetiana Danylenko, who broadcast for 52 hours in 2011 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence.