Television in
Sri Lanka
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 ...
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
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, nativ ...
, and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
languages.
History
Businessmen Anil Wijewardena and Shan Wickremasinghe established the country's first TV station
Independent Television Network
Independent Television Network Ltd ( si, ස්වාධීන රූපවාහිනී මාධ්ය ජාලය; ta, சுயாதீன தொலைக்காட்சி ஊடக வளையமைப்பு) also known a ...
which started broadcasting on 15 April 1979.
The new station remained independent for less than two months as the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
took control of it on 5 June 1979 following a dispute with
President
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*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
J. R. Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...
.
[ Sri Lanka's second ]state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
TV station - Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) - was established by the ''Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Act No. 6 of 1982''.[ The Act required the SLRC maintain taste and decency and not to incite crime and disorder or cause religious or public offence.
The government maintained a monopoly on television broadcasting until 1992 when private TV stations were allowed to broadcast but they were to be regulated by the SLRC.][ ]Maharaja Television
TV 1 is a Sri Lankan general entertainment television channel which provides English and Sinhalese content aimed at the youth market. Founded in 1992 as MTV Newsvision, it was one of Sri Lanka's first privately owned television channels. Its sist ...
(MTV), a joint venture between Capital Maharaja
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
and Singapore Telecommunications Limited
Singapore Telecommunications Limited, commonly known as Singtel, is a Singaporean telecommunications conglomerate and one of the four major telcos operating in the country. The company is the List of mobile network operators of the Asia Pacifi ...
, was one of the first private TV stations. Since then many new TV stations have started in Sri Lanka. There are also a number of satellite networks and pay per view television networks in Sri Lanka. The national telecommunications provider Sri Lanka Telecom
SLT-MOBITEL (formerly known as Sri Lanka Telecom, si, ශ්රී ලංකා ටෙලිකොම්, Śrī Laṃkā Ṭelikom, ta, ஸ்ரீலங்கா டெலிகொம்) is the national telecommunications services provide ...
also launched an IPTV
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, ...
service in 2008.
Since then, during the last two decades, multiple broadcasting networks have entered the public frequencies. A privately owned company, Swarnawahini came into action in 1997 and still functions under the same brand name. In 2005 another major television channel came into action under the name Derana which now has multiple broadcasting platforms including radio, printed media, and a fully dedicated news channel calle
adaderana24X7
Since 2020, where the Pandemic starting taking over the country's Education system, Television has been more and more in use for distance education.
A table has been created for the children to find channels where they can study freely in Sri Lanka if they cannot go to schools
Educational Television providers
Television providers
Current
The following is a list of current television providers based in Sri Lanka.
Former
The following is a list of former television providers which were based in Sri Lanka.
Television stations
Current
The following is a list of current television stations based in Sri Lanka.
Former
The following is a list of former television stations which were based in Sri Lanka.
Most viewed channels
Notes
References
*
*
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*
External links
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission
{{Asia topic, List of television stations in
Television in Sri Lanka,
Television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
Sri Lanka
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 ...