diff --git a/apps/channels/tasks.py b/apps/channels/tasks.py
index c1d16e1b..526bb8f2 100644
--- a/apps/channels/tasks.py
+++ b/apps/channels/tasks.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 # apps/channels/tasks.py
 
 import logging
+import os
 import re
 
 from celery import shared_task
 from rapidfuzz import fuzz
 from sentence_transformers import SentenceTransformer, util
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import transaction
 
 from apps.channels.models import Channel
@@ -16,7 +18,16 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # Load the model once at module level
 SENTENCE_MODEL_NAME = "sentence-transformers/all-MiniLM-L6-v2"
-st_model = SentenceTransformer(SENTENCE_MODEL_NAME)
+MODEL_PATH = os.path.join(settings.MEDIA_ROOT, "models", "all-MiniLM-L6-v2")
+os.makedirs(MODEL_PATH, exist_ok=True)
+
+# Only download if not already present
+if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(MODEL_PATH, "config.json")):
+    logger.info(f"Local model not found in {MODEL_PATH}; downloading from {SENTENCE_MODEL_NAME}...")
+    st_model = SentenceTransformer(SENTENCE_MODEL_NAME, cache_folder=MODEL_PATH)
+else:
+    logger.info(f"Loading local model from {MODEL_PATH}")
+    st_model = SentenceTransformer(MODEL_PATH)
 
 # Threshold constants
 BEST_FUZZY_THRESHOLD = 70
@@ -43,21 +54,12 @@ def normalize_name(name: str) -> str:
     if not name:
         return ""
 
-    # Lowercase
     norm = name.lower()
-
-    # Remove bracketed text
     norm = re.sub(r"\[.*?\]", "", norm)
     norm = re.sub(r"\(.*?\)", "", norm)
-
-    # Remove punctuation except word chars/spaces
     norm = re.sub(r"[^\w\s]", "", norm)
-
-    # Remove extraneous tokens
     tokens = norm.split()
     tokens = [t for t in tokens if t not in COMMON_EXTRANEOUS_WORDS]
-
-    # Rejoin
     norm = " ".join(tokens).strip()
     return norm
 
@@ -76,25 +78,22 @@ def match_epg_channels():
     """
     logger.info("Starting EPG matching logic...")
 
-    # Try to get user's preferred region from CoreSettings
     try:
         region_obj = CoreSettings.objects.get(key="preferred-region")
         region_code = region_obj.value.strip().lower()  # e.g. "us"
     except CoreSettings.DoesNotExist:
         region_code = None
 
-    # 1) Gather EPG rows
     all_epg = list(EPGData.objects.all())
     epg_rows = []
     for e in all_epg:
         epg_rows.append({
             "epg_id": e.id,
-            "tvg_id": e.tvg_id or "",   # e.g. "Fox News.us"
+            "tvg_id": e.tvg_id or "",
             "raw_name": e.name,
             "norm_name": normalize_name(e.name),
         })
 
-    # 2) Pre-encode embeddings if possible
     epg_embeddings = None
     if any(row["norm_name"] for row in epg_rows):
         epg_embeddings = st_model.encode(
@@ -119,7 +118,7 @@ def match_epg_channels():
                     )
                     continue
 
-            # C) No valid tvg_id => name-based matching
+            # C) Name-based matching
             fallback_name = chan.tvg_name.strip() if chan.tvg_name else chan.name
             norm_chan = normalize_name(fallback_name)
             if not norm_chan:
@@ -130,26 +129,16 @@ def match_epg_channels():
 
             best_score = 0
             best_epg = None
-
             for row in epg_rows:
                 if not row["norm_name"]:
                     continue
-                # Base fuzzy ratio
                 base_score = fuzz.ratio(norm_chan, row["norm_name"])
-
-                # If we have a region_code, add a small bonus if the epg row has that region
-                # e.g. tvg_id or raw_name might contain ".us" or "us"
                 bonus = 0
                 if region_code:
-                    # example: if region_code is "us" and row["tvg_id"] ends with ".us"
-                    # or row["raw_name"] has "us" in it, etc.
-                    # We'll do a naive check:
                     combined_text = row["tvg_id"].lower() + " " + row["raw_name"].lower()
                     if region_code in combined_text:
-                        bonus = 15  # pick a small bonus
-
+                        bonus = 15
                 score = base_score + bonus
-
                 if score > best_score:
                     best_score = score
                     best_epg = row
@@ -158,9 +147,7 @@ def match_epg_channels():
                 logger.info(f"Channel {chan.id} '{fallback_name}' => no EPG match at all.")
                 continue
 
-            # E) Decide acceptance
             if best_score >= BEST_FUZZY_THRESHOLD:
-                # Accept
                 chan.tvg_id = best_epg["tvg_id"]
                 chan.save()
                 matched_channels.append((chan.id, fallback_name, best_epg["tvg_id"]))
@@ -168,12 +155,10 @@ def match_epg_channels():
                     f"Channel {chan.id} '{fallback_name}' => matched tvg_id={best_epg['tvg_id']} (score={best_score})"
                 )
             elif best_score >= LOWER_FUZZY_THRESHOLD and epg_embeddings is not None:
-                # borderline => do embedding
                 chan_embedding = st_model.encode(norm_chan, convert_to_tensor=True)
                 sim_scores = util.cos_sim(chan_embedding, epg_embeddings)[0]
                 top_index = int(sim_scores.argmax())
                 top_value = float(sim_scores[top_index])
-
                 if top_value >= EMBED_SIM_THRESHOLD:
                     matched_epg = epg_rows[top_index]
                     chan.tvg_id = matched_epg["tvg_id"]
@@ -189,12 +174,10 @@ def match_epg_channels():
                         f"cos-sim={top_value:.2f} < {EMBED_SIM_THRESHOLD}, skipping"
                     )
             else:
-                # no match
                 logger.info(
                     f"Channel {chan.id} '{fallback_name}' => fuzzy={best_score} < {LOWER_FUZZY_THRESHOLD}, skipping"
                 )
 
-    # Final summary
     total_matched = len(matched_channels)
     if total_matched:
         logger.info(f"Match Summary: {total_matched} channel(s) matched.")
diff --git a/fixtures.json b/fixtures.json
index 491b052f..2d42f84e 100644
--- a/fixtures.json
+++ b/fixtures.json
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
       "name": "Preferred Region",
       "value": "us"
     }
-  }
+  },
   {
   "model": "core.coresettings",
   "fields": {