The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සංස්ථාව, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', ta, இலங்கை ஒலிபரப்புக் கூட்டுத்தாபனம், ''Ilangkai Oliparappuk Kūṭṭuttāpaṉam'') came into existence on 5 January 1967 when

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 ...

became a public corporation. Dudley Senanayake who was the Prime Minister of

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 ...

in 1967 ceremonially opened the newly established Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation along with Minister

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( si, රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa'', ta, ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was th ...

and the Director-General of the CBC, Neville Jayaweera. The first board of Directors of CBC consisted of Mr Neville Jayaweera (CCS), Mr A. L. M. Hashim, Mr Dharmasiri Kuruppu, Mr K.A.G. Perera and Mr Devar Surya Sena. After the first board meeting, it was decided unanimously to appoint the chairman, Mr Jayaweera, as the new Director-General.

Radio Ceylon

The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), formerly Radio Ceylon, is the oldest radio station in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, and was founded as

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 ...

Radio in 1925. Edward Harper who was then the ''Chief Engineer'' at the Telegraph Department in 1921, was the first person who initiated experimental broadcasts in Ceylon. The first-ever broadcast on an experimental basis took place in 1923.

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

music was played from the Ceylon Telegraph Office with the aid of a transmitter built by engineers of the Telegraph Department. The transmitter was built using radio equipment from a captured German submarine. Ceylon began a broadcasting service three years after the launching of broadcasting services in Europe. Edward Harper who is known as the'' 'Father of Broadcasting in Ceylon founded the Ceylon Wireless Club together with British and Sri Lankan radio enthusiasts.

Sir Hugh Clifford Sir Hugh Charles Clifford, (5 March 1866 – 18 December 1941) was a British colonial administrator. Early life Clifford was born in Roehampton, London, the sixth of the eight children of Major-General Sir Henry Hugh Clifford and his wife Jos ...

, the British Governor, spoke to the nation on Colombo Radio for the first time on 16 December 1925. This was a historic occasion. The advent of broadcasting in Sri Lanka places the country alongside Great Britain, the United States of America and Germany, in terms of international broadcasting history.

Radio SEAC

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Allied Forces took over radio operations in Colombo and Radio Seac was born. Colombo based (British) announcers, David Jacobs and Desmond Carrington (who joined the BBC after the war) were among those who presented the news and radio programs for the Allied Forces across South-East Asia. When the war was over, Radio Seac was handed back to the Government of Ceylon. This was when the name was changed to ''Radio Ceylon''. The name change heralded a new chapter in broadcasting in South Asia. Slbc

Radio Ceylon

Radio Ceylon enjoyed the status 'King of the airwaves' of South Asia in the 1950s and 1960s. Millions of listeners tuned into the radio broadcasts. This was the golden era of Radio Ceylon.

Clifford Dodd Clifford R. Dodd was an administrator and radio expert, with twenty years experience in broadcasting in Australia, before he arrived in Sri Lanka. He was sent by the Australian Government under the Colombo Plan to work in Radio Ceylon. He was a ...

, an administrator from Australia was brought in under the

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri L ...

. It was Dodd who founded the ''Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon'' which was very successful. Radio Ceylon and the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation produced some of the finest announcers and presenters in the world. Among them are Livy Wijemanne,

Vernon Corea Vernon Corea (11 September 1927 – 23 September 2002) was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the Sr ...

, Pearl Ondaatje, Greg Roskowski, Tim Horshington, Claude Selveratnam, Jimmy Bharucha, Thevis Guruge, Chitrananda Abeysekera, A.W. Dharmapala,

Karunaratne Abeysekera Karunaratne Abeysekera (3 June 1930 – 20 April 1983) was one of Sri Lanka's most famous Sinhala broadcasters. He was also a poet and songwriter and was widely admired for his excellent command of Sinhala. Abeysekera wrote the lyrics to over 2, ...

, H.M. Gunasekera, S.P. Mylvaganam, Gnanam Rathinam,

Nihal Bhareti Nihal Bhareti was a popular radio announcer with the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in Colombo. He joined Radio Ceylon in the 1960s. His mellow voice attracted hundreds of fans in Sri Lanka as well as on the Indian sub-continent. Bhareti jo ...

, Leon Belleth , k.mylavaganam and

Vijaya Corea Vijaya Corea is a radio and television broadcaster and one of Sri Lanka's most well known media personalities. Corea is a household name in Sri Lanka, synonymous with broadcasting and show business for over four decades, and has often been refer ...

Mark Anthony Fernando are named few.

80 Years of Broadcasting

In 2005 the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation celebrated 80 years in the world of broadcasting. This was a historic landmark where broadcasting was concerned a very important chapter for communication in Sri Lanka.

40 Years as a Public Corporation

In 2007 the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation celebrated 40 years as a public broadcasting corporation. With the incorporation in 1967 came the name change to Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation. When the country became a republic in 1972 the station came to be known as the ''Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation''.

Re-Launch of the English Commercial Service

The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, Hudson Samarasinghe, took the decision in 2008 to re-launch the English Commercial Service. Back in the 1950s and 1960s the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon was a brand leader and helped the station to rule the airwaves in South Asia. The re-launch commenced on 1 September 2008. The SLBC had earlier allocated more time to BBC regular programmes. More entertainment programmes have been added to the re-vamped English Commercial Service with a view to grabbing a

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a ...

of listeners on the island and across the Indian sub-continent.

References

External links

Saarega – All Tamil Online Radio

Official web site of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation

Article and Interviews of SLBC Tamil Announcers வானொலி உலகம்

Sri Lankan radio play collection

SriLankan radio play series-Cheguvera

SriLankan Buddhist radio play collection

Sri Lankan first Tamil internet radio
opened in Kandy City Centre - KCC {{Authority control International broadcasters English-language radio stations in Sri Lanka Mass media companies of Sri Lanka Multilingual broadcasters Radio stations established in 1925 Sinhala-language radio stations in Sri Lanka State owned commercial corporations of Sri Lanka Tamil-language radio stations in Sri Lanka 1925 establishments in Ceylon

Radio Ceylon

Radio SEAC

Radio Ceylon

80 Years of Broadcasting

40 Years as a Public Corporation

Re-Launch of the English Commercial Service

See also

References

External links