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The Independent Television Network Ltd ( si, ස්වාධීන රූපවාහිනී මාධ්‍ය ජාලය; ta, சுயாதீன தொலைக்காட்சி ஊடக வளையமைப்பு) also known as ITN Ltd or simply as ITN is a Sri Lankan state-governed television and radio broadcaster located in Wickramasinghepura, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka. It is a Shrama Abhimani Award winner (Oct 2009) , broadcasts content to a wide demographic within Sri Lanka as well as the expatriate community. The programmes are broadcast in three languages: Sinhala,
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...
, and English. The ITN broadcast coverage extends to 99% of the island of Sri Lanka. The ITN channel is the flagship television channel of ITN Ltd. ITN further operates three
FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...
stations; Lakhanda (Former ITN FM), the
Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 milli ...
service; Vasantham FM, the
Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...
service and
Prime Radio Prime Radio is an FM radio station which broadcasts in Sri Lanka. The radio station is operated by Independent Television Network Limited, a state governed television and radio broadcaster in Sri Lanka. This radio network is a relaunch of the R ...
, the English language service.
Vasantham TV Vasantham TV (Tamil: வசந்தம் தொலைக்காட்சி) (also known as Wasanthan TV) is a Tamil language television channel which broadcasts in Sri Lanka. The channel is operated by the Independent Television Network Li ...
, a second television channel operated by ITN Ltd, broadcasts content in the Tamil language. ITN recently launched a website ITN News, which is an online portal for the distribution of local news internationally. ITN channel is also the first
1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen vert ...
full HD television channel in Sri Lanka. The ITN Ltd has invested Rs. 200 Mn on the construction of the country's first HD studio complex and started high resolution broadcasting since 30 June 2016.


History

Ahead of the start of ITN there were decisions facing the deployment of television in Sri Lanka. Japanese company
NEC is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It prov ...
provided basic support for the building of the station (and did the same later with
Rupavahini The Sri Lanka Rūpavāhinī Corporation ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රූපවාහිනී සංස්ථාව; ta, இலங்கை ரூபவாகினி கூட்டுத்தாபனம்), also known as Jathika R ...
in 1982). The development of the station happened at the same time as Rupavahini's. One of the key steps was selecting the colour system. PAL was favoured despite the fact that neighbouring India had a black and white system using NTSC equipment, and was provided by Japan despite using its form of NTSC. ITN was being set up by Anil Wijewardene and Shan Wickremesinghe in Mahalwarawa and was expedited by an American investor. The first test transmissions in 1979 were well-received in Colombo alone, which was the initial coverage area of the channel. Programmes such as American educational series
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
and the
LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...
British sitcom Mind Your Language were among the first programmes seen. ITN Ltd commenced operations on 13 April 1979 with the introduction of the TN television channel. As the first television broadcasting service of Sri Lanka and South Asia they began transmission of the first terrestrial television channel in the country. It was also the first privately owned television station in a region where the government was in control of radio and television. The founding board of directors was composed of Mr.
Shan Wickramasinghe Deshabandu Shanthilal Nilkantha Wickremesinghe, popularly as Shan Wickremesinghe, is a Sri Lankan media mogul, broadcaster, and a Broadcast Engineer. He is the founder of Sri Lanka's first television station A television station is a set of ...
, Mr. Anil Wijewardene and Mr. Bob Christie. Initially the ITN Ltd studios and transmission station were based in Mahalwarawa Estate,
Pannipitiya Pannipitiya ( si, පන්නිපිටිය, ta, பன்னிபிட்டிய) is a suburb of Colombo. It is an area in Colombo District, Sri Lanka and is located about from the commercial capital. Pannipitiya is subdivided into ...
. A one kilowatt (1 KW) transmitter and transmission tower were used to broadcast the ITN channel within a radius of the city of
Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
. Due to the geographical location of the transmission station, local weather and the transmission equipment used early viewers experienced many disruptions and interference to programmes as a result of voltage fluctuations. On 5 June 1979 ITN Ltd was acquired by the state as a business undertaking under a
Competent Authority A competent authority is any person or organization that has the legally delegated or invested authority, capacity, or power to perform a designated function. Similarly, once an authority is delegated to perform a certain act, only the competent au ...
. The duly appointed authority, the late Mr. D. Thevis L. Guruge (ex-Director General of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation) contributed significantly to the early development of the organisation. Shortly after commencing its test broadcasts, ITN announced the start of its regular broadcasts for a wide urban area. Local companies started selling television sets imported from Japanese manufacturers. Sales of sets skyrocketed, ahead of UNESCO projections. Due to the slow development of television in neighbouring India (
Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...
still broadcast in black and white and was mainly geared at educating farmers), Japanese-made TV sets sold in Sri Lanka were smuggled due to the lack of established presence of foreign brands at the time. ITN Ltd was the pioneer of colour television transmission in Sri Lanka. On 5 June 1984 ITN Ltd relocated to its current base of operations in Wickramasinhapura. In 1992 ITN was converted to a public company with the state as the major shareholder of the company. Subsequently, the revenue, the diversity of programmes, technical services and coverage expanded significantly. Lakhanda and Vasantham FM are two of the three FM radio stations operated by ITN Ltd. The Lakhanda radio station which originated as a subsidiary of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) was amalgamated with ITN Ltd on 1 April 1997. This radio station broadcasts content in the Sinhala language. Vasantham FM is an FM radio station operated by ITN Ltd that broadcasts Tamil content. This radio station was launched in June 2009 to fulfill the media requirements of the Tamil speaking community within Sri Lanka. Furthermore, ITN Ltd commenced transmission of a second television channel,
Vasantham TV Vasantham TV (Tamil: வசந்தம் தொலைக்காட்சி) (also known as Wasanthan TV) is a Tamil language television channel which broadcasts in Sri Lanka. The channel is operated by the Independent Television Network Li ...
on 25 June 2009. This particular television channel broadcasts content in the Tamil language. ITN launched Prime TV and
Prime Radio Prime Radio is an FM radio station which broadcasts in Sri Lanka. The radio station is operated by Independent Television Network Limited, a state governed television and radio broadcaster in Sri Lanka. This radio network is a relaunch of the R ...
, a television channel and radio station that broadcasts material in English on 12 November 2009.


Programmes

ITN Ltd's television channels and radio stations broadcast a variety of different of programmes in Sinhala, Tamil, and English languages. Listed below are some of the programmes broadcast by the television channels and radio stations operated by ITN Ltd. ITN channel – (Primarily broadcasts content in the Sinhala language) *News – (In Sinhala, Tamil and English) *Teledramas – (Amaa, Ridee Siththam, Muthu Warusa, Tharu Piri Ahasak, Parana Towuma,
Emy Emy or EMY may refer to: People with the given name Emy *Emy Coligado (b. 1971), an American actress *Emy Gauffin (1928–1993), a Swedish orienteering competitor *Emy Jackson (b. 1945), a Japanese singer * Emy Kat (b. 1959), a visual artist * Emy ...
, Snehaye Dasi, Nethu Piyena Thura,
Kopi Kade Kopi Kade (''Coffee Shop'') ( Sinhala:කෝපි කඩේ) is a popular Sri Lankan comedy-drama television series broadcast on the Independent Television Network. One of Sri Lanka's iconic television series in history, Kopi Kade remains the mos ...
, Aluth Gedera, Sihina Tharaka, Rantharu, Bonda Meedum ) *Films – Classic Sinhala Films *Documentaries – Atapattama *Educational programmes *Children's entertainment *Programmes dubbed in Sinhala *Game shows *Reality TV *Religious programmes *Political debates Vasantham TV – (Primarily broadcasts content in the Tamil language) *News *Teledramas *Films – Tamil / Hindi Films *Documentaries *Educational programmes *Children's entertainment Prime TV – (Primarily broadcasts content in the English language) *News *Music Programmes – (Music Runway, House of Rock, Music With Bevil) *Debates and Discussions – (The Round Table, Ayubowan Sri Lanka, Prime Sunrise) *Educational/Variety Programmes – (Prime Sunset) *Drama – (Beverly Hills 90210, Relic Hunter, Queen of Swords) *Other – (Sports/Foreign News/Cartoons) Lakhanda – (Primarily broadcasts content in the Sinhala language) *News *Music – Sinhala *Religious programmes *Educational programmes *Political programmes Vasantham FM – (Primarily broadcasts content in the Tamil language) *News *Music – Tamil *Religious programmes *Educational programmes *Political programmes
Prime Radio Prime Radio is an FM radio station which broadcasts in Sri Lanka. The radio station is operated by Independent Television Network Limited, a state governed television and radio broadcaster in Sri Lanka. This radio network is a relaunch of the R ...
– (Primarily broadcasts content in the English language) *News *Music


Frequencies and coverage

Cumulatively, the broadcasts of ITN Ltd reach over 99% of the country. However, the coverage for the individual radio stations and television channels vary considerably. ITN *Frequency/ies: VHF Ch9, VHF Ch 12, VHF Ch 24 *Coverage: 99% of country except certain areas in the North *International coverage: Live online streaming at The ITN Channel Online Vasantham TV *Frequency/ies:VHF Ch9, UHF 25 *Coverage:Western Province, North and East *International coverage: Live online streaming at Vasantham TV Online Prime TV *Frequency/ies:UHF Ch24 *Coverage:Western Province *International coverage: Live online streaming at Prime TV Online Lakhanda *Frequency/ies + Coverage: 97.6 MHz – Colombo, South / 87.9 MHz – North and 88.5 MHz Islandwide *International coverage: Live online streaming a
*Frequency/ies + Coverage: 97.6 MHz – Colombo, 97.0Mhz *International coverage: Live online streaming at Vasantham FM Online Prime Radio *Frequency/ies + Coverage: 104.5 MHz – Colombo, 95.5 MHz – Kandy, 99.0 MHz – Galle *International coverage: Live online streaming at Prime Radio Onlin">Lakhanda Radio Online Vasantham FM *Frequency/ies + Coverage: 97.6 MHz – Colombo, 97.0Mhz *International coverage: Live online streaming at Vasantham FM Online Prime Radio *Frequency/ies + Coverage: 104.5 MHz – Colombo, 95.5 MHz – Kandy, 99.0 MHz – Galle *International coverage: Live online streaming at Prime Radio Onlin


See also

*
List of television networks in Sri Lanka Television in Sri Lanka dates back to 1979. Television broadcasting, like other forms of media in the country, is generally divided along linguistic lines with state and private media operators providing services in Sinhala, Tamil, and English la ...
*
List of radio networks in Sri Lanka Radio broadcasting in Sri Lanka dates to 1923. Radio broadcasting, like other forms of media in Sri Lanka, is generally divided along linguistic lines with state and private media operators providing services in Sinhala, Tamil, and English langua ...
* Media of Sri Lanka


References

*ITN starts HD broadcasting
Sri Lanka’s first full HD television studio complex will be opened tomorrow
29 June 2016


External links


Official website of the ITN ChannelITN FM RadioVasantham TVVasantham FM RadioPrime TV Sri LankaPrime Radio Sri LankaOfficial Govt. News Portal – ITN News
{{Media of Sri Lanka Sinhala-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 1979 1979 establishments in Sri Lanka