Television 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 language.

History

Sri Lanka didn't have any television until 1979. Businessmen Anil Wijewardena and Shan Wickremasinghe established the country's first TV station Independent Television Network which started broadcasting on 15 April 1979.^[1] The new station remained independent for less than two months as the government took control of it on 5 June 1979 following a dispute with President J. R. Jayewardene.^[1] Sri Lanka's second state-owned TV station - Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) - was established by the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Act No. 6 of 1982.^[2] SLRC started broadcasting on 15 February 1982.^[1] 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.^[1] Maharaja Television (MTV), a joint venture between Capital Maharaja and Singapore Telecommunications Limited, was one of the first private TV stations. Since then many new TV stations have come 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 also launched an IPTV service in 2008.

Television providers

Current

The following is a list of current television providers based in Sri Lanka.

Provider	Ownership	Owner	Transmission	Established	Website
Ask Cable Vision[lower-alpha 1]	Private	Ask Media & Cable Vision	Digital cable	2010	askmedianetwork.lk
City Cable[lower-alpha 2]	Private	City Cable Links	Cable
Dialog TV[lower-alpha 3]	Private	Dialog Axiata	Digital satellite	July 2005	dialog.lk/tv
Dish TV[lower-alpha 4]	Private	Dish TV	Digital satellite	March 2015	dishtv.lk
Lanka Broadband Networks[lower-alpha 5]	Private	Lanka Broadband Networks	Analog cable, digital cable	2000	lbn.lk
PEO TV	State-owned[lower-alpha 6]	SLT Visioncom[lower-alpha 7]	IPTV	September 2008	peotv.com
Satcom[lower-alpha 8]	Private	Future Sat Com Holdings	Satellite

Former

The following is a list of former television providers which were based in Sri Lanka.

Provider	Ownership	Owner	Transmission	Established	Closed
Multivision[lower-alpha 9]	Private	Ruhunu 2001 Multivision	Analog microwave	1999	2008
TV Lanka	Private		Digital terrestrial	2012	2013

Television stations

Current

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

Station	Ownership	Owner	Language	Established	Terrestrial		Satellite		Cable	IPTV	Streaming	Website
					Analogue [lower-alpha 10]	Digital	Dialog TV [3][4]	Dish TV [5]	LBN [6]	PEO TV [7]
Ada Derana 24X7	Private	Power House	English/Sinhala	20 July 2014			13				Link	adaderana.lk
ART Television[lower-alpha 11]	Private	IWS Holdings	English	1996						017		arttv.lk
Channel C	Private	Wide Angle Productions	Sinhala	10 March 2008			45					channelc.lk
Channel Eye[lower-alpha 12]	State-owned	Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation	English	April 1999			02	2572		002	Link	channeleye.lk
Citi Hitz	Private	OnAir World Ceylon	Sinhala	10 December 2007
Colombo TV	Private	Colombo Television Limited	Sinhala	1 January 2015							Link	colombotv.lk
CSN TV[lower-alpha 13]	Private	Carlton Sports Network	English/Sinhala	7 March 2011			12	2552		009	Link	csn.lk
Dream TV[lower-alpha 14]	Private	GalleZone Solutions	Sinhala	2010						015		dreamtv.lk
ETV[lower-alpha 15]	Private	EAP Broadcasting Company	English	1995						005
Heritage TV[lower-alpha 16]	Private	Heritage Television	Sinhala	8 May 2009			28					heritagetelevision.lk
Hiru TV	Private	Asia Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala	23 May 2012			10	2507		019	Link	hirutv.lk
ITN Channel	State-owned	Independent Television Network	Sinhala	13 April 1979			03	2517		003	Link	itn.lk
Knowledge TV	Private	Pix & Words	Sinhala	2010						018
Nethra TV	State-owned	Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation	Tamil	1 January 2008			02	2572			Link	nethratv.lk
Rangiri TV	Non-profit	Rangiri Sri Lanka Media Network	Sinhala	July 2011						022
Raw TV	Private	Raw Television	Sinhala	26 October 2015							Link	rawtv.lk
Ridee TV	Private	Tiss Nagodavithana Films	Sinhala	2012			14
Rupavahini	State-owned	Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation	Sinhala	15 February 1982			01	2506		001		rupavahini.lk
Sarana TV	Non-profit	Sarana Media Network	Sinhala	2014						094
Shakthi TV	Private	MTV Channel	Tamil	20 October 1998			08	2609		011		shakthitv.lk
Shraddha TV	Non-profit	Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery	Sinhala	29 September 2012			19			099	Link	shraddha.lk
Sindu TV	Private	Iraj Productions	English/Sinhala	2015								sindutv.com
Sirasa TV[lower-alpha 17]	Private	MTV Channel	Sinhala	14 December 1992			07	2513		010	Link	sirasatv.lk
Siyatha TV	Private	Voice of Asia Network	Sinhala	17 September 2009				2512		021	Link	siyatha.com
Siyasa TV	Private	Siyasa Media Network	Sinhala	28 January 2014						095		siyasa.tv
Sri TV	Private	Sri TV	Sinhala	2006								sritv.lk
Swarga TV	Non-profit	Rock Foundation	English/Sinhala/Tamil	2011			30					swargatv.com
Swarnavahini[lower-alpha 18]	Private	EAP Broadcasting Company	Sinhala	1994			06	2516		006	Link	swarnavahini.lk
The Buddhist[lower-alpha 19]	Non-profit	Sri Sambodhi Foundation	Sinhala	29 June 2007			18	2592		096		thebuddhist.tv
TNL TV	Private	Telshan Networks	English/Sinhala	21 June 1993			11	2511		013	Link	tnltvisira.com
TV 1[lower-alpha 20]	Private	MTV Channel	English/Sinhala	14 December 1992			09	2553		012	Link	tv1.lk
TV Derana[lower-alpha 21]	Private	Power House	Sinhala	11 October 2005			05	2514		004	Link	derana.lk
Varnam TV[lower-alpha 22]	Private	Voice of Asia Network	Tamil	17 September 2009				2618		008
Vasantham TV	State-owned	Independent Television Network	Tamil	25 June 2009			04	2614		007	Link	vasantham.lk
Verbum TV[lower-alpha 23]	Non-profit	Verbum Television	English/Sinhala/Tamil	2014				2591		093
You TV[lower-alpha 24]	Private	MGM Networks	English/Sinhala/Tamil	17 January 2007

Former

The following is a list of former television stations which were based in Sri Lanka.

Station	Ownership	Owner	Language	Established	Closed	Notes
DAN Tamil Oli	Private	Ask Media and Cable Vision Network	Tamil	January 2009	2013	Now shown only on cable and satellite.
NTV	State-owned	Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation	English	18 November 2009	2010
Prime TV	State-owned	Independent Television Network	English	12 November 2009	2010
TV 2	Private	Peoples Media Network	English	1 November 2008	2009
TV Lanka	Private	Electroteks Global Networks	Sinhala	March 2002	2010	Now shown only on cable, satellite and limited digital transmission.

Notes

1. Available in Jaffna peninsula only.
2. Available in Colombo only.
3. Formerly CBNsat.
4. Formerly Star TV Lanka, Satnet
5. Available in Colombo and Jaffna only.
6. The Government of Sri Lanka owns the majority of shares in Sri Lanka Telecom, the ultimate parent company of PEO TV, either directly or via organisations controlled by it (e.g. Bank of Ceylon, Employees' Provident Fund, National Savings Bank and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation).
7. Subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom.
8. Formerly Srilakvahini.
9. Formerly Comet Cable.
10. Channels 21-69 on UHF, channels 2-12 on VHF.
11. Formerly Dynavision.
12. Formerly Rupavahini 2.
13. Formerly Carlton Sports Network
14. Also known as TV Dream Music.
15. Formerly ETV 2.
16. Also known as HTV.
17. Formerly MTV.
18. Formerly ETV, ETV 1.
19. Also known as Buddhist TV.
20. Formerly MTV Newsvision, MTV, Channel One MTV, MTV Sports, MTV.
21. Formerly Derana TV.
22. Formerly Vettri TV.
23. Also known as EWTN.
24. Formerly Max TV.

References

• Alan G. Davies (21 February 2010). "Television Stations in Sri Lanka".
• "UHF Television Channel Assignments" (PDF). Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka. 20 July 2012.
• "Licensed Media Operators in Sri Lanka" (PDF). Ministry of Mass Media. 2015.
• "Viewership share of TV Channels from 2006-2012". Survey Research Lanka. 2012.

1. Indrajit Banerjee, Stephen Logan, ed. (2008). Asian Communication Handbook 2008. Singapore: Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. pp. 446–459. ISBN 9789814136105.
2. "SRI LANKA RUPAVAHINI CORPORATION". LawNet.
3. "Channels". Dialog TV.
4. "List of Channels on Dialog TV". TV Channels List.
5. "Packs: Ntertainment". Dish TV (Sri Lanka).
6. "List of Channels". Lanka Broadband Networks. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014.
7. "Channel Lineup". PEO TV.

External links

• Telecommunications Regulatory Commission