Radio broadcasting in Sri Lanka dates to 1923. Radio broadcasting, like other forms of media 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 ...

, 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, nati ...

, 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 ...

language.

History

The first radio broadcast in

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 ...

was in 1923 when recorded music was broadcast using parts of radio equipment from a captured German submarine. Regular broadcasting started in

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 ...

in July 1924. Ceylon's first radio station Radio Colombo started regular broadcasting on 16 December 1925. The station was taken over by the British military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

who renamed the station

Radio SEAC Radio SEAC was the war time radio station operated by the Allied South East Asia Command (SEAC) that took over the operations of Colombo Radio, a Ceylon radio station launched in 1925. Radio programmes were broadcast across Asia to the allied force ...

which broadcast across South Asia from October 1944. After the war the station was handed back to the civilian government of Ceylon who renamed it

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 ...

on 1 October 1949. The station was immensely popular both in Ceylon and other parts of Asia. The Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation Act No. 37 of 1966 incorporated the Department of Broadcasting. Radio Ceylon became a public corporation on 30 September 1967, changing its name to Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka in 1972 after becoming a republic and consequently CBC was renamed Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). SLBC broadcast on

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...

until 1993 when

FM broadcasting 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 ...

began. 95% of the country received FM transmissions by 1999. The government maintained a monopoly on radio broadcasting until the early 1990s when private radio stations were allowed to broadcast. Today there are numerous private radio stations but the

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 ...

stations continue to dominate the market.

Radio stations

The following is a list of radio stations based in Sri Lanka.

Terrestrial radio

Internet radio

International broadcasters

Several international broadcasters operate radio stations aimed at Sri Lankan audiences but broadcasting from outside Sri Lanka: *

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

Sinhala Service (Sandeshaya) *

Tamil Service (Tamilosai) * China Radio International Sinhala Service * China Radio International Tamil Service *

Radio Veritas Asia Radio Veritas Asia was the non-commercial Catholic shortwave station broadcasting to Asia. It is based in Quezon City, Philippines, and is owned by the Philippine Radio Educational and Information Center, which previously owned the original Rad ...

Some broadcasters use local transmitters to relay their broadcasts.

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

broadcasts are relayed via Trincomalee on medium wave and short wave. Trans World Radio India broadcasts on medium wave using SLBC's transmitter in Puttalam. The

International Broadcasting Bureau The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) is the technical support outlet within the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) (former Broadcasting Board of Governors, BBG), which is a U.S. independent agency. The IBB supports the day-to- ...

broadcasts programmes from

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

Radio Azadi Radio Azadi (formerly Radio Free Afghanistan) is the Afghan branch of the U.S. government's Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) external broadcast services. It broadcasts 12 hours daily as part of a 24-hour stream of programming in co ...

Radio Free Afghanistan Radio Azadi (formerly Radio Free Afghanistan) is the Afghan branch of the U.S. government's Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) external broadcast services. It broadcasts 12 hours daily as part of a 24-hour stream of programming in co ...

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a United States government-funded private non-profit news service that broadcasts radio programs and publishes online news, information, and commentary for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editoriall ...

, Radio Liberty and Radio Sawa on short wave using the relay station at Iranawila.

References

* * {{Asia topic, List of radio stations in