Edward Harper was a British engineer who travelled to Colombo in 1921 to work in the

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Telegraph Department. Harper was appointed Chief Engineer. He had an innovative mind and his passion was broadcasting. Edward Harper is known as the 'Father of Broadcasting,' in Ceylon.

The launching of broadcasting in Ceylon

Harper together with Ceylonese and English radio enthusiasts founded the Ceylon Wireless Club. They experimented with radio broadcasts in 1923 the first experiments took place from a tiny room in the Central Telegraph Office - gramophone music was broadcast with the aid of a small transmitter captured from a German submarine. The transmitter was built by Ceylon

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

engineers. This was historic because it happened three years after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe. Ceylon plays an equal role in the beginnings of broadcasting alongside

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Colombo Radio

On 16 December 1925 a regular broadcasting service was launched in Colombo. The radio station was known as Colombo Radio, adopting the call sign, 'Colombo Calling.' As a result of Edward Harper's efforts and that of the pioneering Ceylonese engineers,

Radio Ceylon Radio Ceylon ( si, ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සේවය ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', ta, இலங்கை வானொலி, ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first ...

came into being - it is the oldest radio station in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

. Radio Ceylon ruled the airwaves in the region and became an established brand where international broadcasting was concerned. The inauguration of radio, changed Ceylonese society. Families used to get together in the morning or in the evening and listen to the radio. Radio Ceylon enjoyed unique status as the market leader in South Asia from the 1950s - 1960s. Sri Lanka now has several radio stations and television stations. The media revolution was made possible by those early experiments conducted by Edward Harper and the Ceylonese radio enthusiasts who changed the face of

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

on the island. Sri Lanka occupies an important place in the history of broadcasting - radio services were launched just three years after the inauguration of the BBC in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Eighty Years of Broadcasting in Sri Lanka

In December 2005, Sri Lanka celebrated 80 years in broadcasting, a historic landmark in the world of broadcasting - thanks to the pioneering efforts of broadcasting giants like Edward Harper. In January 2007 the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, formerly known as Radio Ceylon, commemorated forty years as a public corporation.

References

External links

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation - Live Streaming
* ttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=274538565077 Radio Ceylon Facebook Groupbr>Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Facebook GroupBBC Radio 4 - Empire StoriesSLBC Celebrates 40 Years in Broadcasting
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121011095855/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/02/28/mon03.asp A brief history of radio and radio drama - Sunday Observer, Colombo {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Edward British broadcasters English engineers Year of birth missing Year of death missing Sri Lankan people of British descent

The launching of broadcasting in Ceylon

Colombo Radio

Eighty Years of Broadcasting in Sri Lanka

See also

References

External links