Independent Television Network Ltd (; ) 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)
. It broadcasts content to a wide demographic within Sri Lanka and the expatriate community. The programmes are broadcast in three languages:
Sinhala,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
, and English. The ITN broadcast coverage extends to 99% 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 that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...
stations;
Lakhanda (Former ITN FM), the
Sinhala language
Sinhala ( ; Sinhala: , , ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( ), is an 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 million. It is also the first ...
service; Vasantham FM, the
Tamil language
Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...
service and
Prime Radio, the English language service.
Vasantham TV, 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 sc ...
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 information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...
provided basic support for the building of the station (and did the same later with
Rupavahini 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 television, 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 Worksh ...
and the
LWT British sitcom
Mind Your Language were among the first programmes seen.
ITN Ltd commenced operations on 13 April 1979 with the introduction of the ITN 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, Mr. Anil Wijewardene and Mr. Bob Christie. Initially the ITN Ltd studios and transmission station were based in Mahalwarawa Estate,
Pannipitiya. 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, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
.
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 a ...
.
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, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...
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.]
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, Poori, Emy, Snehaye Dasi, Nethu Piyena Thura, Kopi Kade, 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)
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
Lakhanda Radio Online
Vasantham FM
See also
* List of television networks in Sri Lanka
* List of radio networks in Sri Lanka
* 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 TV
Vasantham 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