MTV Sports/CSN.... the blind leading the blind?

After having years and years of only general entertainment channels, Sri Lanka finally got two sports (well almost) centric channels in the guise of CSN & then MTV Sports. Well not quite, these two even though they call themselves "sports" channels, telecast mainly general entertainment content. Sports will account to a small percentage compared to the rest of the content.

However it should be said that CSN has more "live" sporting content compared to MTV Sports. However it seems that both channels are trying to out do each other by telecasting the same content. Presently both channels are telecasting the "World Combat Games". 

With so much of "live" sporting content out there in the guise of F1, MotoGP, tennis, football, etc, etc both these channels tend to chase after the same event. If one telecasts, the other follows through telecasting the same. Each one advertises it by calling it "exclusive right" and then it turns out to be not too "exclusive" after all. If both are telecasting two different events, it would not be too much of an issue but when there are other events, both these channels telecast the same event.

It's time for some maturity, it's good that we have two "sports" channels in Sri Lanka but we need better coverage, quality of broadcast and not two channels that copy each others "live" events and call themselves sports channels and broadcast over 80% of non sporting content.

These two channels are turning out to be pus sports channels and are only around to cut each others throats in what seems to be a more political battle rather that providing the viewer with what he/she desires to watch.

It won't be longer before one of these two channels bite the dust and then the other follows soon after.

Tamil FM to cover the entire island

Tamil FM Sri Lanka's latest Tamil language Radio Station which commenced broadcasting in the Northern peninsula on FM 99.5 Kokavil & FM 99.7 Jaffna will cover the entire island on FM 107.8 in the near future. 

The channel is termed as the first ever "Infotainment Tamil Radio in Sri Lanka", which should mean it should carry informative-educational programming in addition to music.

We wish the management & staff of Tamil FM all the best in their endeavors.

Max TV/Radio to relaunch as U TV/FM

According to unconfirmed reports that reached us, Max TV will relaunch as U TV & Max Radio will relaunch as U FM. We are not sure whether the television station will be a mainly English channel as before or will revert to a multilingual broadcast, telecasting Sinhala & English programming.

As to whether the station is to be leased to another party is yet to be determined. Max TV which originally started off as a GEC telecasting programmes of various languages was converted to a mainly English GEC about two years ago.

An expected date for the relaunch is not known yet. Please keep us updated on the latest on Max TV/Radio as the days progress.

ETV undergoing change...

Over the last several days, ETV has dropped all regular programming and is concentrating on Channel News Asia plus some music and a teaser that ends with the words "The Sky is the limit". This indicates a possible relaunch or revamping of the channel under same name or another.

ETV which was owned by the EAP Group was under the management of Vanguard Management Services also with links to the EAP Group. Now it seems that they come under the direct purview of ETI Finance also a member of the EAP Group but the role of Vanguard Management Services regarding the management of ETV is not clear. They maybe retaining management control or may have now handed it over to ETI Finance.

ETV which one of the first 24hour channels in Sri Lanka then known as ETV-2, the other 24hour channel being ETV-1 now known as Swarnavahini has gone through many changes in its history. 

Whether ETV will continue to be a English language channel is yet to be seen, they have a few options. ETV may switch from Channel News Asia and sign on with another one such as Al Jazeera after the former Max TV ended Al Jazeera broadcasts after entering into test mode. ETV may relaunch as a "sports channel" such as CSN or MTV Sports.

Over the past few months there has been a certain level on instability among local FTA channels, starting with Siyatha TV which went on test, and then returned as Siyatha TV once again but this time with no regular programming, just music and a few adverts. Voice of Asia seems to be trying to lease out Siyatha TV facilities to a third party but it seems that they haven't been able to do so as yet. Next Max TV went on test mode along with their radio station Max Radio and still remain on test mode and are scrolling about a channel that we all "deseir to watch" only that "deseir" is spelled correctly as "desire". Hope they correct the spelling mistake as soon as possible instead of making a fool of themselves.

Whether the "deseired" channel will return as Max TV or as something else is yet to be seen. Now with ETV also entering a phase like the above two, only without calling it a "Test Transmission" & have opted to retain the Station ID.

Please keep us updated on the latest regarding these developments as the days progress.

Siyatha TV returns...

Surprisingly Siyatha TV returned to the airwaves after entering a testing phase for about a month or so. A new channel was expected either in the form of "Real TV" or "Neth TV" from the beginning of October but the same channel returned.

The reason behind the testing phase is not clear and the return of "Siyatha TV" is either due to the expected lease of Voice of Asia broadcasting facilities to Asset Broadcasting not coming through or a failure on the part of Voice of Asia to launch "Real TV". Either way for some reason or the other "Siyatha TV" has returned.

We are not sure how long this channel will last and whether they will pursue a deal to lease it once again to another party or make use of this opportunity to relaunch the same channel and start afresh.

Only time will tell what is actually transpiring at Voice of Asia over Siyatha TV.

Historic day for Sri Lankan Radio - 5LIVE on Yes FM

Tomorrow Yes FM Sri Lanka is going where no station has gone before, yes outdoor events are fairly common for radio stations specially during the festive season where each station is parked at some mall someplace in the city.

Having multiple broadcasts from different locations in the island within a span of 24hours from cities located in various parts of the island is indeed a first for any station in Sri Lanka.

The following is the schedule for the day tomorrow

6 am to 10 am from Rio Ice Cream Parlor in Jaffna
10 am to 1 pm from Kandy City Center
1 pm to 4 pm from Heritage Cafe in Galle
4 pm to 7 pm from Jetwing Beach in Negombo
7 pm to 9 pm the Radio Zoo in Colombo

We hope this set's the stage for many more "live" radio broadcasts from around the island, instead of being stuck to the studio until December. It is indeed worthy to note that it was Yes FM that began this concept of outdoor broadcasting when they stepped into Crescat during the festive season several years ago.

Siyatha TV gone.....

Over the last weekend Siyatha TV wrapped up transmissions and put the channel on test mode once again. It is rumored that Neth FM will start their a sister TV station or Real Radio will launch Real TV. But it's interesting to note that Siyatha is still carrying out their activities such as news broadcasting over the channel.

Either a rebranded version of Siyatha TV will come on air but its absurd to send a channel into test mode prior to the rebranding exercise, or the channel has been leased to a third party for the launch of a brand new station.

It's yet to be seen but we have the received the following on facebook

Please keep us updated on the latest on this channel as the days progress.

Ad's to be reduced on Indian feeds of channels

Those of you who are sick of the advertisements carried on the Indian feeds of International channels over all  the pay television operators in Sri Lanka can rejoice at a recent ruling that has placed an ad cap on channels commencing next month.

As per the new regulations, advertisements on Indian feeds of channels will not 20 min per hour for news channels and 16 min for GEC's (General Entertainment Channels) from July 1st 2013.

The regulations further state that from October 1st 2013 advertisements for GEC's & news channels cannot exceed 12 min per hour.

This only applies for Indian feeds of channels being received into Sri Lanka, most of the other feeds that originate outside Indian such as those from Singapore are more or less commercial free for the most part.

Source : Broadcasters finally accept Trai's 12 minute ad cap mandate

Legends 96.6 goes on air

Sri Lanka's latest radio station Legends 96.6FM launched a couple of days ago. The station that is operated by MBC Radio functions as a sister channel to Yes 101FM. The channel focuses on 70's, 80's & 90's music.

After the failure of their oldies radio station Classic Radio a few years ago, this is Maharaja's second attempt at operating a second English Language radio station.

This channel is based on Yes Fm's popular programming block called "Legends".

We wish this brand new channel and the management of Legends FM all the best in their future endeavors.

Legends FM replaces Kirula Radio

Those of you who are fans with us on facebook would already know that FM 96.6 Kirula Radio went off air a week or so ago and was replaced with the latest channel by MBC Radio being Legends FM. Following the same format as the now defunct Classic Radio which was also operated by MBC Radio, this channel is now in testing phase and seems to have good coverage.

Being a English language it will operate in tandem with Yes FM 101 and will be Maharaja's second operational English channel. Even though information on the format, etc hasn't been officially confirmed yet, the channel is testing playing a mix of 70's and 80's music. Which means that the station will play the same format of music once launched.

The station follows the name of a Yes FM programming slot called "Legends" which plays similar music.

We are not sure when this channel is expected to launch officially but it will be much sooner than later.

Please keep us updated with the latest on Legends FM as the days progress.

New English language channel testing in place of Kirula FM

Kirula 96.6 FM which is operated by the Maharaja's ceased their broadcasts as of last night and has been replaced by the test transmissions of a English Language channel. The still unnamed channel is presently testing on FM 96.6 and is broadcasting manly retro music indicating that it could possibly be a retro station that plays mainly 70's and 80's music.

There has been no indication regarding why the channel was closed down. However it seems that the resignation of channel head Kinsley, has played a part in it. The main reason for the closure we believe is the financial viability of the station. If a retro channel is launched this will be Maharaja's second attempt at english retro, the previous one which failed was later relaunched as YFM.

Red FM....

As many of you would know, a brand new English Radio station called Red FM launched a few weeks ago, this was a replacement to "Your Radio" which was in operation previously. Although frequencies were allocated last year along with the re-organisation of radio frequencies in Sri Lanka, the station did take a long time to commence transmissions.

The radio station which mainly plays 90's music has poor transmission quality. The volume levels are muffled compared to other stations. Coverage is an issue despite the fact that these are islandwide frequencies. This we believe is due to poor transmission equipment.

We hope the management of Red FM take steps in rectifying these problems and we wish them the very best in their future endeavors.

Star Sports 2 to launch as a brand new channel

Contrary to previous beliefs that Star Sports 2 is actually "ESPN India" rebranded. It has been confirmed that Star Sports 2 is actually a brand new channel launched by ESPN Star Sports. The launch will take place on March 11th 2013 and international football will be it's driver content. It will also showcase other sporting content.

It's very likely that football content such as English Premier League, Spanish League & the French League will gradually be shifted to the new channel.

The ESPN rebranding exercise will take place as soon as the 100% acquisition of ESPN Star Sports is given the green light by the Indian government. ESPN India will mostly like be rebranded as Fox Sports India to reflect the rest of Asia or will be another Star Sports most likely Star Sports 3.

Source: Star to launch a new sports channel on 11 March - indiantelevision.com

Star Sports 2 to launch soon

According to advertisements running on Star Sports / Star Cricket, Star Sports 2 will be launching soon in the subcontinent. It's highly unlikely to a new rather, rather ESPN India will rebrand as Star Sports 2. In the rest of Asia "ESPN" rebranded as Fox Sports Asia due to ESPN parent company exiting the 50/50 Joint venture and Newscorp operators of Fox/Sky/Star Sports increasing their 50% stake in ESPN Star Sports to 100%.

ESPN will reenter the Sports broadcasting business in Asia after consolidating their other businesses in the region and after the completion of the "non-competitive" clause which spans 4 to 5 years in the event of the joint venture ending. So ESPN will likely reenter this market after 2017 or 2018.

With the sale and rebranding of ESPN in other regions of Asia to Fox Sports, India's Star Network was weighing the options of rebranding ESPN India to either Fox Sports India or as another Star Sports channel. It looks like the decision has been made and ESPN India will become Star Sports 2 and ESPN HD will relaunch as Star Sports HD on the same day or down the line a few days/weeks later.

It should be said that more India focused sports will become increasingly become available on Star Sports 2 owing to the regionalisation of Fox International Channels. There is nothing that our local pay television operators can do about this since, sports telecast rights are so complex & prevents our pay operators from securing Fox Sports Asia into this region.

There are some rumours that Star Sports 2 maybe a separate channel altogether but it's highly unlikely since it is increasingly becoming clear that ESPN India would be relaunched as Star Sports 2.

Sirasa TV broadcasting 24 hours a day?

We are getting unconfirmed reports that Sirasa TV is now broadcasting 24 hours a days. However it looks like a hurriedly organised 24 hour transmission since complains are being received that there is no proper schedule available for late night broadcasts.

At the beginning when the private TV stations were commencing broadcasts most of them went 24 hours but with the power crisis that hit a few years thereafter and with the increasing operational costs the channels closed transmissions around midnight,

Most 24hr television transmissions came to a grinding halt. Now several years later Sirasa TV looks like it is boldly stepping out into the 24hr format. It's actually a good thing since with pay television operators catering to subscribers on a 24x7 basis and with increasing numbers of local channels hopping aboard they will need to rethink their strategy to halt 24hr transmissions since most of the international channels available on pay television channels are available on a 24x7 basis.

Everlasting Radio - gone for good?

After several months of being off air, it seems that Everlasting Radio is struggling in securing a frequency to resume transmissions. Ever since that fateful date on which the frequencies were changed, this radio station has been off air. Everlasting Radio still claims that they will return to the airwaves soon like it has been doing so for the past several months.

Although though they are presently broadcasting as an online radio station, this has also not been trouble free either. Everlasting Radio has been facing trouble with their online broadcasts as well, causing them to change URL's & confusing listeners in the process.

The future of this radio station doesn't look bright unless they can secure a frequency and resume broadcasts its likely that Everlasting Radio will be unable to keep their listeners tuned in. We hope the management of Everlasting Radio is able to secure a frequency and the authorities concerned will speed up the process of frequency allocation.

Blog access problems sorted

We are happy to inform you that Dialog Axiata have sorted out problems with their network that prevented Dialog customers from accessing this blog and all other blogs that were on "blogspot.com". We hope that the problem has been permanently resolved and does not occur again.

We apologise to all our fellow bloggers who were unable to access any of our blogs and regret any inconvenience caused.

We kindly request all our bloggers who are on Facebook and Twitter to kindly include us in their social media circles to keep abreast on the latest happenings in the industry.

Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/tvradiosrilanka

Twitter : @tvradiosrilanka

Dialog users unable to access our blogs

Please note that Dialog users are unable to access our blogs and all other blogspot.com blogs. Those who wish to access our blogs should do so using non-Dialog connections. Please get the word out to your friends & all fellow bloggers. Please call Dialog and inform them of this issue that had affected a wide range of blogs. We hope this matter is resolved soon. Until then those who wish to keep up to date on the latest can connect with us on

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Twitter : @tvradiosrilanka

Happy New Year 2013

We take this opportunity to wish all our fellow bloggers the management and staff of all media institutions in Sri Lanka,

"A Happy, Prosperous & Blessed New Year 2013"

2012 - The Year in review

2012 has been quite an eventful year in the Sri Lankan television & radio industry. With the launch of Hiru TV, the first HD ready television station after several months in testing. Not to mention the biggest happening can be termed as the reallocation of frequencies assigned to the private radio stations. Everlasting Radio going off air after the reallocation of frequencies is one of the most negative aspects of the reallocation.

Not to mention the launch of the first HD service in Sri Lanka by Dialog TV. The launch of a pay television DVB-T service by TV Lanka whose legality has been brought into question.

It's time that television and radio in Sri Lanka took a step further and local television and radio stations improved coverage and carried out more technically advanced broadcasts by moving into digital broadcasting platforms. We hope that 2013 would be year that steps are taken in this direction.

Merry Christmas to you all

We take this opportunity to wish our fellow bloggers, the management & staff of all media institutions in Sri Lanka & overseas....

"A Very Merry & Blessed Christmas 2012"

Everlasting Radio... what happened?

Everlasting which switched frequencies several hours after the frequency reallocation took place, suddenly went off air a few days later leaving there fan's wondering on what exactly has happened. Despite assurances by their social media team from the early part of last month that the station will return soon, nothing seems to be happening. Everlasting still continues to broadcast online and the delay in resuming over the air broadcasts has disgruntled many listeners.

Many are left to wonder whether Everlasting will return to the air waves or whether the station has gone off air for good.

We hope the management of Everlasting will keep their listeners updated on the progress and the actual situation surrounding Everlasting Radio.

BBC Entertainment & CBeebies BBC exit subcontinent market

A few weeks ago it was reported that BBC Entertainment & it's sister channel CBeebies BBC will exit the subcontinent today 30th Nov 2012. Therefore today will be last day these channels will be broadcasting in this region. This decision was taken by largely considering the Indian pay television market. No consideration was given by BBC to the other countries in the region such as Sri Lanka where the local pay television network operators do not charge carriage fees unlike in India where the channel pays the pay television network operators to make the channel available on their networks.

The two BBC channels which are commercial free have no commercial viability due to the payment of carriage fees to the operator.

Whether BBC Entertainment & CBeebies BBC is available or not in India is not the concern of this blog, rather BBC Management should take steps to open up another Asian feed for a market such as ours which is more friendly towards the pay television channels.

We hope BBC takes necessary steps to retain their two channels to their viewers in Sri Lanka.

Everlasting Radio & ESPN Star Sports buyout

English Radio station Everlasting Radio which was allocated FM 101.50MHz has ceased broadcasting over the airwaves & is presently available only online for the past several days. Everlasting Radio are calling it "routine maintenance", but it seems to be more than that. Normally Radio Stations don't cease broadcasting to carry out maintenance. It seems that they have some problem with the frequency allocated and thereby had to cease broadcasting. We hope "Everlasting Radio" returns with a more powerful signal since there were several complains after the frequency allocation regarding the clarity of the channel.

In other news, the operators of Star Television Network & Fox International Channels "News Corp" have completed the buyout of the Disney stake in ESPN Star Sports joint venture. This makes ESPN Star Sports a wholly owned operation of News Corp unlike earlier. This will eventually result in the rebranding of ESPN as another "Star Sports" or would most likely lead to the introduction of "Fox Sports" to the Indian subcontinent. We believe that the rebranding could take place as early as next year. As per the details of the joint venture termination, Disney could return to the sports market in Asia with ESPN after a period of approximately 5 years due to a non competitive clause being built into the agreement.

TRC mucks up "Everlasting Radio" frequency allocation

The TRC which carried out the reorganization of frequencies to the local FM radio stations in order to prevent frequencies from interfering with each other have right royally messed up with the allocation of the "Everlasting Radio" frequency. The frequency allocated to "Everlasting Radio" is the same allocated to the "The Buddhist" & is therefore causing interference between the two stations.

Even though "Everlasting Radio" says that it will be increasing the power of their transmitters to improve coverage throughout Colombo & the suburbs, it's quite evident that they will not be able to provide island wide coverage. Even "The Buddhist" will not be able to provide island wide coverage due to this problem. Even though "The Buddhist" has also been allocated FM 101.3MHz, interference with "Everlasting Radio"  will occur once power is increased on that frequency.

The TRC carried out the very thing they were trying to avoid in the case of "Everlasting Radio" & "The Buddhist". We hope immediate steps are taken to rectify the situation so that both channels can broadcast island wide without any interference by reallocation once again the frequency issued to "The Buddhist:" or "Everlasting Radio".

In other news it's reported that the reception of stations such as Lite FM & some SLBC channels are not good as they used to be prior to the reallocation. We hope the stations concerned will address the issues faced by their listeners. The problems seem to exist mainly with listeners who reside outside Colombo.

Sha FM, Everlasting Radio, etc, etc

The ABC Radio network operated Sha FM has returned to the airwaves on FM 90.9Mhz & 91.1MHz after a lapse of several years according to information being received. The launch coincided with the reorganization of frequencies of all the FM radio stations in the island. At the moment Sha will operate as a 24X7 non-stop music channel.

In other news, several other radio stations are in the pipeline such as Global Radio & Lakviru FM which are expected to launch in due course.

Everlasting Radio which was operating on FM 97MHz has ceased transmissions since last night and was expected to launch today with a brand new frequency but no information has been released as yet on the status of the channel.

Overall the frequency reallocation seems to have progressed without any problems. A few grey area's in coverage exist when the channels switch frequencies. We hope these are addressed as soon as possible.

Please keep us updated on the latest on Everlasting Radio as well as the impact of the frequency reallocation as the hours & days progress.

New FM frequency allocations

The new FM frequency allocations which will take effect on November 1st 2012 are as follows

English Language Stations
E FM 88.3 MHz
Gold FM 93.0 MHz, 93.2 MHz
Kiss FM 96.9 MHz
Lite FM 87.6 MHz, 87.8 MHz
Real Radio 97.1 MHz
Sun FM 98.7 MHz, 98.9 MHz
TNL Rocks 99.2 MHz
Yes FM 100.8 MHz, 101.0 MHz
Radio Sri Lanka 97.4 MHz, 97.6 MHz
Red FM 99.5MHz, FM 99.7MHz

Sinhala Language Stations
FM Derana 92.2 MHz, 92.4 MHz
Hiru FM 96.1 MHz, 96.3 MHz
Lak FM 106.0 MHz,106.2 MHz
Lakhanda 93.5 MHz, 93.7 MHz
Neth FM 94.8 MHz, 95.0 MHz
Ran FM   100.5MHz
Rhythm FM 95.6 MHz, 95.8 MHz
Shree FM 100.0 MHz, 100.2 MHz
City FM 89.6 MHz, 89.8 MHz,
Swadeshiya Sevaya 90.3 MHz, 90.3 MHz, 97.0 MHz, 98.3 MHz, 99.6 MHz, 102.0 MHz, 107.6 MHz
Velanda Sevaya 93.3FM, 106.9FM, 92.7FM
Kothmale FM 98.4 MHz,
Singha FM 88.6 MHz, 88.8 MHz
Sirasa FM 106.5 MHz, 106.7 MHz
Siyatha FM 98.2MHz, 98.4MHz
V FM 107.0 MHz
Y FM 92.7 MHz
Rangiri Sri Lanka FM 104.4MHz 105.7MHz
Isira TNL FM 89.1MHz FM 89.3MHz
Bauddaya Guwan Viduliya(The Buddhist) FM 101.3MHz FM 101.5MHz
Kirula FM FM 96.6 MHz
Rajarata Sewaya FM 107.3MHz
VIP Radio FM 94MHz
Kandurata Sewaya FM 107.3MHz
Shaa FM FM 90.9MHz, FM 91.1MHz.
Seth FM FM 101.8MHz
Kandurata FM FM 107.3MHz, FM 107.5MHz
Lakviru FM 105.2MHz, FM 105.4MHz

Tamil Language Stations
Alai FM 91.4 MHz
Shakthi FM 103.9 MHz, 104.1 MHz
Tamil National Service 102.1 MHz, 102.3 MHz
Thendral 104.7 MHz, 104.9 MHz
Sooriyan FM 103.4 MHz, 103.6 MHz
Vasantham FM 102.6 MHz, 102.8 MHz
Vettri FM 90.4 MHz, 90.6 MHz
Velichcham FM 92.7 MHz

In addition to frequency changes, some of the radio stations are changing their hotlines. We hope we covered all the radio stations Please do keep us updated on any mistakes or stations that we may have missed in the list.

Courtesy: The Daily Mirror October 31st 2012 

Updated : October 31st 2012, corrected frequencies & added new stations to list. A big thank you for our fellow bloggers for the information.

More on TRC frequency reallocation

According to information being received the frequency reallocation taking place on Nov 1st 2012 will stop disturbances occurring between radio stations. Stations that have more than five frequencies may get two frequencies & those that have less than five may get one frequency which will have islandwide coverage.

The gap between radio stations will be increase to 0.3 from the present 0.2

Please keep us updated on the new frequencies being allocated to the existing radio stations, please note that we will update the blog with the new frequencies as soon as we obtain confirmation.

FM frequency reallocation to take effect from Nov 1st 2012

A major reallocation of FM frequencies is to take place at the end of the month. The reallocation is expected to affect all the existing radio channels and will take effect from Nov 1st 2012. Some radio channels are already begun advertising their new frequencies whilst the some are yet to do so.

Please keep us updated on the list of frequencies that are to be reallocated. We hope that there are no coverage problems and interference of radio stations after the reallocation and that the transition will be smooth.

TV Lanka DVB-T pay television service... illegal

The guys who brought you "Kangaroo Courts" back in 2006, who were were instrumental in shutting CBNsat (now known as Dialog TV) & LBN claiming that they are the only licensed operator for pay television services in Sri Lanka seem to be carrying out an illegal operation of their pay television DVT-T service.

According to information reaching us, they have not signed up with many of the channels they rebroadcast and are using Videocon DTH service decoders in Sri Lanka to illegally downlink them and retransmit. Neither do they have the license to carry out a DVB-T pay television service.

It's a fact that TV Lanka Satellite channels broadcasting overseas are deemed the worst by the Sri Lankans living overseas & failed to secure a license to operate a cellular service by partnering with Anil Ambani's Reliance Mobile services. Now they seem to be out to rob the people's money and are make a quick buck. 

The service is so ill planned that TV Lanka have opted to broadcast the HD feed in SD just to attract and hoodwink prospective subscribers.

We urge the authorities concerned to take string action against these crooks who once tried to destroy the very industry that they are have now entered into illegally.

Rangiri TV on UHF 60

We are getting reports that Rangiri TV is now visible on UHF 60 in the Gampaha & Ganemulla areas. The signal is said to be weak. 

Please keep us updated on the latest about Rangiri TV as the days progress.

Sirasa begging for pay television carriage

Local FTA television channels Sirasa TV, MTV Sports then known as Channel One MTV & Shakthi TV owned by the Capital Maharaja group that proudly proclaimed over the newspapers barring any pay television company from carrying any of their three channels & also in an interview scoffed at the idea of pay television in Sri Lanka and claiming that the business will never be successful in Sri Lanka are now begging for space on the pay television providers.

After successfully begging themselves onto PEO TV now the Capital Maharaja's are begging to be on Dialog TV. Comments are appearing on this blog requesting for Sirasa TV although some of them are genuine users, most of them seem to be an organised attempt by the Maharaja's to give a false impression that Sirasa is the most wanted channel on pay television plus the Blogger ID's that are requesting Sirasa have been created as recently as Jul/Aug 2012.

So it seems that the Capital Maharaja's have had to eat their own words and have taken begging to a whole new level & are now the new "Superstar's of Begging".

"Max Television" Blockbusters

It should be noted & appreciated that local English Language FTA channel Max Television has been premiering movies faster than certain Indian pay English movies channels available in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka FTA channels had previously been telecasting movies that are considerably old but Max has made a difference and is telecasting much newer movies. One example is the movie Real Steel which was due to premiere on a Saturday night on Star Movies India but Max Television premiered the movie a couple of days prior. 

This is really good & we hope the other local FTA channels take note and start premiering movies and television serials much faster within Sri Lanka for the benefit of the people who rely on FTA television for their entertainment purposes. Sri Lankan FTA English channels are capable of running television serials on the same day they are premiered in the UK/US, we hope to see this style in the near future.

Sri Lankan Olympic Broadcasting - London 2012 an overview

As we have now come to the close of London 2012, we decided to take a look at how our local broadcasters fared in their broadcast of the games. In the run up to the games the legal battle between the Maharaja Organisation & Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation threatened to dampen the games experience in Sri Lanka with one trying to stop the other from broadcasting claiming exclusive rights.

After our post a couple of months ago on the run up to the games and our request to cancel the "exclusive" broadcast tag, the supreme court issued a historic decision allowing both the operators to broadcast the games and stopped the exclusivity of the games to one broadcaster. This undoubtedly resulted in Sri Lanka enjoying a much better coverage of the games than ever before. With pay television penetration at an all time high the pay television subscribers too had unparalleled coverage of the games from the FTA and pay channels.

One of the problems was the broadcasting of the same event by channels belonging to the different networks plus allocation of certain events to low coverage channels. But all in all this was the best Olympics for Sri Lanka in terms of games coverage. Now this begs the question of what will happen when the games move to Rio 2016 in four years time.

We urge the authorities concerned to scrap the "Exclusivity" of the broadcasts for good and allocate the rights for one more broadcaster and allow at least three or more broadcasters to telecast the games so that Rio 2016 will surpass London 2012 coverage. In addition there should be better co-ordination of the broadcasts between rival networks so that more than one channel don't up showing the same sporting event.

We commend Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation & Maharaja Broadcasting for doing an excellent job this year. However they should remember that they wouldn't have been able to handle the broadcasts alone. Looking forward to much better fare when it's time for Rio 2016.

Olympic Coverage Sri Lanka 2012

With over half the Olympics completed, it's very clear that this time the Olympic coverage in Sri Lanka has been excellent compared to the past. Mainly due to the pay television coverage & coverage by two Sri Lankan media giants.

The television viewers are feasting their eyes to coverage by pay television channels ESPN, ESPN HD & Star Sports including FTA coverage by Rupavahini, Channel Eye, NTV, MTV Sports, Sirasa TV & Shakthi TV. However it could still get better since we find that certain events are being telecasted simultaneously by two channels belonging to different networks. Olympic coverage on NTV cannot be viewed by a majority of viewers due to low coverage of the channel, the same applies to some of the Maharaja channels too such as mainly MTV Sports which has less coverage compared to Shakthi & Sirasa TV.

Kudo's going out the judges of the Supreme court for abolishing the exclusive rights granted to the state owned SLRC and allowing the Maharaja channels to carry out broadcasting the events too. The next time round there should be proper coordination between rival networks plus we believe a third network should be allowed to broadcast the Olympics too for a much superior Olympic experience.

All in all so far this year has been the best in terms of coverage compared to the previous years.

"THANK YOU" for the "100" LIKES

A BIG "THANK YOU" for the "100".... we have now passed "100" likes on Facebook - . We thank all our facebook fans and bloggers for enabling us to make this a massive success, we couldn't have done it without you. Please continue to introduce us to your friends & family... we are now looking forward to the 150th LIKE!!!

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TV Lanka launches DVB-T pay television service

TV Lanka has launched their very own DVB-T pay television service with coverage limited to the colombo city limits. The channel list consists of a mix of HD & SD feeds. However it should be stated that the HD feeds are been broadcast to the subscribers as SD feeds and not in HD quality.

A problem we see with this is that in the case of the Taj Television channels they broadcast only Ten HD & Ten Cricket. The major disadvantage is that not all the programmes on Ten Sports is available on Ten HD since Ten HD broadcasts a mixture of content from Ten Sports, Ten Cricket & Ten Action. So it would have been better for them to add Ten Sports & Ten Action as separate channels instead of Ten HD. We see this repeated a few times with other channels too. We hope they review their channel lineup and do the needful to rectify the situation.

Given below is the channel lineup of the DVB-T service

1. TV Lanka
2. TV Lanka-movie
3. TV Lanka-songs
4. Rupavahini
5. ITN
6. Channel EYE
7. Swarnawahini
8. Derana
9. TNL
10. The Buddhist
11. BBC
12. CNN
13. Net Geo HD
14. Discovery Planet
15. Animal Planet
16. FOX traveler
17. POGO
18. Cartoon Network
19. Sun TV
20. KTV
21. STAR Vijay
22. Kaliganar TV
23. Adithya TV
24. Jaya Movies
25. Chitti TV
26. Jaya TV
27. Sun Music
28. TEN cricket
29. Neo Prime
30. Star Cricket HD
31. TEN HD
32. ESPN HD
33. HBO
34. Star Movies HD
35. Movies Now HD
36. STAR Plus HD
37. Zee TV HD
38. Angel TV
39. Peace TV
40. CH40
41. Chanel 41

ESS bags SLPL broadcast rights

ESS which operates ESPN, Star Sports & Star Cricket has secured multi year broadcasting rights for the Sri Lanka Premier League which debuts on August 11th. The rights have been acquired for the Indian subcontinent and covering Hong Kong and Thailand too.

ESS continues to acquire broadcasting rights for the major sporting events in this region despite an outright purchase by Star (owned by Fox International Channels) of the Disney shares (Disney operates ESPN) in ESS. We believe that ESPN would be rebranded as Fox Sports in the near future but it would function as ESPN until the handover is completed.

The acquiring of SLPL rights by ESS is indeed good news to the sports loving public in Sri Lanka since ESPN, Star Sports & Star Cricket are available on all locally operated pay television networks.

CSN is the local FTA broadcaster of the event.

IndianTelevision.com - ESPN Star Sports bags Sri Lanka Premier League rights

Supreme Court rules out "exclusive" Olympic rights

In a move that will be hailed by the sports loving public in Sri Lanka the Supreme Court has over ruled an order by the Colombo High Court preventing MTV/MBC from broadcasting the Olympic Games. This ruling means that both MTV/MBC & SLRC can telecast the Olympics thereby ensuring better coverage of the games.

The inability of one broadcaster to telecast the games is something that we highlighted several weeks ago and it has been rightfully highlighted by the chief justice too.

This is indeed great news and we wish both MTV/MBC & SLRC all the best in their coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Dailymirror 24th July 2012 : SC gives green light for MTV/MBC to telecast Olympics

ESPN-Star Sports split could result in a Fox Sports Asia launch

With ESPN & Star Sports splitting their almost 16 year joint venture. Star is in the process of purchasing the shares owned by Disney who operate ESPN. This would mean that Disney-ESPN would exit the sports broadcasting business in Asia for a few years due to the existing no-compete clause in the present agreement joint venture.

Once the Disney-ESPN shares are wholly purchased by Star, it would we believe result in the launch of Fox Sports replacing ESPN in Asia. In a few years Disney is expected to consolidate their asian businesses which would mean the return of ESPN into Asia as a wholly owned operation of Disney.

This entire split which is subject to regulatory approvals is expected to be concluded shortly which would mean the launch of Fox Sports Asia will take place soon thereafter. ESPN-Star Sports would most like be known as Fox-Star Sports in the future.

SET SIX, CSN to telecast SLPL

CSN will be telecasting the upcoming SLPL which is expected to take place in August 2012 over FTA. SET SIX is expected to be announced as the television partner for this entire region, a channel not yet available on any locally operated pay television platform. There will definitely be a scramble to add the channel onto the local pay television platforms. A scramble that will result in interesting channel pricing plus packaging by the local platforms.

Hopefully the pricing will be affordable for the middle class and not geared for the few maharaja's around.. No pun intended towards the Maharaja's of MBC/MTV.

Hiru TV opinion poll

Hiru TV created a lot of hype surrounding its launch for several months, now a few weeks after its launch we want to know your views on this channel. Please click on the link below & answer the question on our facebook poll.

Facebook: Hiru TV Opinion Poll

Shaa FM now testing

ABC Radio Network has begun the testing of Shaa FM on FM 92.4 according to sources. This comes hot on the heels of the hyped up launch of Hiru TV a few weeks ago. This is the last of the ABC Radio channels  to be resurrected which were controversially shutdown a couple of years ago by the present government. At the moment the test transmissions are not so clear but we believe that as testing progresses the transmission power will be increased.

Please continue to discuss on this topic on this blog as well as on facebook.com/tvradiosrilanka

Join us on facebook.com/tvradiosrilanka

In order to improve your experience with us and for us to be able to interact better with our fellow bloggers who we are certain have got facebook accounts. We decided to launch this blog and its sisters blogs under the TV & Radio Sri Lanka banner.

So please like us on http://www.facebook.com/tvradiosrilanka

Neo channels "Sports" & "Cricket" relaunched

The two channels from the Neo Sports stable have relaunched taking on a new look and feel. The Neo Cricket channel was relaunched as "Neo Prime" and Neo Sports has adopted several new changes. This comes against the back drop of both channels loosing the coveted BCCI rights to Star India and the expiration of the Bangladesh Cricket rights. However Neo has acquired the rights for major non cricketing events such as Euro 2012, Tennis plus others.

The Neo Sports & Neo Prime channels are available on all major local cable television platforms.

Local Sri Lanka Cricket rights goes to CSN, SLRC refrains from bidding

Local television rights for locally played international crickets matches have gone to CSN (Carlton Sports Network), while Rupavahini the state broadcaster who held a monopoly over the local television rights since Sri Lanka gained test status have refrained from bidding.

The Carlton Sports Network was formed last february and is headed by CEO Nishantha Ranathunga who is also the SLC Secretary.

After initially winning the rights for the Australian tour of Sri Lanka last year, they have managed to bag the SLC rights for a period of three years.

It's not certain if CSN will telecast the cricket matches or will in turn sell the rights to SLRC for a higher price, since SLRC have expressed interest in securing the rights. If they are interested then the only way they can secure rights is to purchase it from CSN.

For more on this please see Dailymirror online : SLC secretary's company wins SLC's TV rights

No need of exclusive Olympic broadcaster, please share the rights

The battle between the Maharaja Television MTV/MBC & Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation has heated up so much that ultimately it may result in Sri Lankans who watch FTA channels being deprived of the Olympic games broadcasts due to legal wrangling. It is time that exclusive rights declaration of the Olympic Games for local FTA broadcasters in Sri Lanka be stopped with immediately effect, rather the rights should be allocated to more that one broadcaster.

The reason for this is that the Olympic's are just too big for one broadcaster to handle on their own with mutiple events happening at the same time across several venue's. SLRC has three channels Rupavahini, Channel Eye which have very good coverage and the measly NTV with little or no coverage at all. So if any events are broadcast on NTV then many will not be able to watch it. They will also slide the events broadcasts for their daily news updates, others programmes of national importance.

Maharaja's have three channels Sirasa, MTV Sports, Shakthi TV out of which only Sirasa has the best coverage and Shakthi fares better than MTV Sports in terms of coverage. They too will slide events for daily news/hourly news updates plus others of commercial importance to them.

Overall SLRC has the best coverage but we believe that the rights should be shared between SLRC & the Maharaja's who will then broadcast events making sure that Sri Lanka's will be able to watch many of the multiple events being broadcast live from London. We appeal to the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Commitee, Ministries of Sports & Media to step in and resolve this conflict and work out the sharing of rights before this escalates further resulting in Sri Lanka's being deprived of the live broadcasts of London 2012.

In the pay television front, the rights holders of the Olympic Games ESPN Star Sports have allocated their two sports channels for the broadcast of the games and if the "ESPN" channel & "Star Sports" channel are not enough to broadcast the games then they will rope in their sister channel "Star Cricket" to broadcast events if necessary. So if a pay television dedicated Sports network would need three channels to broadcast the games then FTA non sports dedicated channels would definitely need to share the rights for a successful games broadcast.

Hiru TV launched.....

Sri Lanka's latest television channel Hiru TV launched a few hours ago. The channel which broadcasts on stereo can be received over FTA as well as on sri lankan pay television networks. After several months of testing on FTA and on the pay television networks the channel finally commenced transmissions today.

At the moment not much information is available about the content available on the channel & with no active website in place, information on content is hard to find.

The channel boasts of being digital ready & HD ready which doesn't mean that it is a digital & HD signal at the moment, rather the station can upgrade to a Digital & HD broadcast with relative ease in the future.

We wish the management & staff of ABC Networks Hiru TV all the best in their future endeavors.

Updated on May 23rd 2011 1:30pm : Hiru TV website - http://www.hirutv.lk/

Hiru TV to launch May 23rd

As reported over the media Hiru TV the latest offering by ABC Networks will be taking to the airwaves on May 23rd from 6am onwards. The channel which boasts of superior technology has had a degradation of picture quality on the local pay television platforms ever since they launched FTA test transmissions.

The channel also has ruffled some feathers by making use of frequencies reserved for other broadcasters which is more of a right royal  frequency mismanagement by the TRCSL.

We hope this channel will lead the pack and pioneer digital tv in sri lanka by becoming the first digital tv channel in the country after all it is just not enough to be digital ready & hd ready only.

Channel One MTV to rebrand as "MTV Sports"

Channel One MTV is to be rebranded as "MTV Sports" with effect from today. Although not a dedicated sports channel it will focus mainly on sports plus a mixture of entertainment, lifestyle & business programming plus News 1st updates during it's 18hr broadcast.

In addition they have secured the rights to launch the local version of "Who wants to be a millionaire". Competition among the two sports channels CSN (Carlton Sports Network) & MTV Sports is expected to heat up. Most of the important sports content involving Sri Lanka is telecast by the SLRC "Channel Eye" owing to their superior coverage. However with CSN entering the scene some policies have changed, some of which the Maharaja's are hoping to capitalise on and it is highly likely that we may see more channels taking on a sports outlook.

However the sad thing is that "MTV Sports" like "CSN" will not be a full time sports channel at least for the moment. In addition MTV Sports coverage should be improved on par with SLRC or CSN if they are to be a truly vie for rights for sports contents involving Sri Lanka.

With the Olympics games to be held in London this year it will interesting to see who acquires the broadcast rights for this important event. This undoubtedly good for Sri Lanka since sports was a genre strictly restricted to the pay television segment & some of these channels should start broadcasting sporting events such as Rugby, Formula 1, Football which are some of the events which do not involve Sri Lanka but have a considerable following in this nation.

It is highly likely that the SLRC "Channel Eye" channel would also be rebranded & take on a sports centered name in order to stay on top of the game when it comes to sports broadcasts in Sri Lanka.

Daily FT 26th Jan 2012 : Channel One out, MTV Sports in

Happy & Prosperous New Year 2012

We take this opportunity to wish all our fellow bloggers the management and staff of all media institutions in Sri Lanka,

"A Happy & Prosperous New Year 2012"

"Hiru TV" test transmissions now on

Sri Lanka's latest television channel Hiru TV will be launching soon on Dialog TV & PEO TV. The channel is currently carrying out test transmissions on both the pay television networks now for a few weeks. The exact launch date is not known but it could be somewhere in January 2012.

With Hiru TV the ABC Group which is well known for it's radio stations will be be foraying into the television industry. At the moment we are unable to ascertain whether this channel will be available FTA sometime in the future or whether it will cater solely to the pay television market.

Please keep us updated on the latest regarding Hiru TV as the days progress.

Merry Christmas

We take this opportunity to wish all our fellow bloggers and the management and staff of all media institutions in Sri Lanka.

"A Very Merry Christmas"

Star Movies Asia to be rebranded as "Fox Movies Premium"

Star Movies Asia which is available on all locally operated pay television networks is to be rebranded as "Fox Movies Premium" on Jan 1st 2012 in certain regions. This Asian feed of the channel is only available on the locally operated pay networks since the Indian DTH providers carry the Indian feed, it's not clear exactly when or whether Star Movies India will be rebranded.

New live content is expected to be added to Fox Movies Premium & all existing Star Movies subscribers would be upgraded to the new channel according to press release.

It is not 100% clear whether the rebranding will be effective in this region as well or whether it will continue to broadcast as "Star Movies" Asian feed into this region, since certain other regions such as "Taiwan" & "Phillipines" will continue to get the channel as "Star Movies" even after Jan 1st 2012.

If the rebranding does occur we hope that Fox International Channels will continue to provide Fox Movies Premium in Sri Lanka as it did with Star Movies Asia will not ask pay networks in Sri Lanka to switch to Star Movies India which is of much lower quality compared to Star Movies Asia. In addition we hope Fox International Channels will consider switching all pay networks in Sri Lanka from Star World India which is adding more pathetic Indian content to it's lineup to Star World Asia & release the "FOX" channel Asia to this region.

Press Release : Star Movies to be replaced with premium product

Neo Sports - Dog in the manger attitude

Neo Sports, the Indian Sports broadcaster seems to be having more than it can handle on it's plate and have a dog in the manger attitude when it comes to the broadcast of the Rugby World Cup in the subcontinent. Neo Sports which were granted exclusive rights for the subcontinent are only taking into consideration the Indian public when it comes to the broadcast. An attitude endorsed by all other Indian Sports broadcasters. 

Over the last weekend the Davis Cup was given preference over the Rugby matches played, maybe in India the Davis Cup is more popular but in Sri Lanka the Rugby World Cup is more popular. Although Neo Sports runs two channels with Neo Cricket telecasting mostly reruns of old cricket matches specifically those that India won, they would be doing the Rugby fans a big favour by stopping broadcasts of the old cricket reruns and moving some of the rugby content or Davis content to Neo Cricket and telecasting all the Rugby matches without interruption. If not they can at least share some of the rights with another sports channel.

We hope the IRB would give serious consideration to the plight of the Rugby fans in Sri Lanka & the rest of the subcontinent when an exclusive rights holder doesn't live up to their expectations. In the future rights for India  should be awarded separately and for countries like Sri Lanka a sports broadcaster such as Setanta/Eurosports which is not influenced by India should be granted the rights for broadcasting the matches.

This not only stands true for Rugby but for all other non cricketing sporting content. We hope that the controlling bodies for all other sports would take note and do the needful. For the Rugby this time round it might be too late to do anything at all, if possible the IRB should strictly inform their exclusive rights holders to broadcast all the matches or strip them of the rights immediately and hand them over to broadcasters who are not influenced by India.

Everlasting Radio launched

Sri Lanka's newest English Language Radio Station hit the airwaves on FM 97.0 over the least weekend. The channel run by MJF media have also planned a Sinhala Language radio station & TV Channel in the near future.

Many radio stations have been popping up in Sri Lanka like little mushrooms but sadly only to wither away in a few months/years. Only the major high profile broadcasters have been able to carry on broadcasting and make an impact. The coverage of Everlasting Radio is verging on pathetic with some grey areas within Colombo and even worse as you move out of colombo. 

The frequency FM 97.0 has changed hands a couple of times already & we hope that Everlasting Radio would be able to make an effective impact on the Sri Lankan Media Industry.

Everlasting Radio website : http://www.everlasting.lk/

Channel Eye telecasts Rugby World Cup

Channel Eye Sri Lanka's premier Sports broadcaster has begun broadcasting the Rugby World Cup 2011 via Neo Sports on a link obtained from PEO TV according to reports. Usually local channels telecast the Rugby World Cup from the knockout stages and this is the first time that the matches played in the round robin stage are also being telecast by a local channel.

This is indeed good news for local Rugby enthusiasts with no pay television access. However due to Channel Eye telecasting the Australian tour of Sri Lanka during the Third Test match, Rugby enthusiasts may experience an interruption to the rugby action so we believe that Channel Eye should move the matches to Rupavahini or share rights with CSN who can telecast the matches that Channel Eye is unable to.

Max Television relauched

After an unsuccessful couple of years Max Television has now relaunched, this time as a 24hr English Language Television channel.

Only time will tell whether the new look Max Television will be successful or not. At present there are 5 English Language television channels and Max the 6th entrant would have to compete with the likes of ETV, Art TV, Channel One MTV, NTV & CSN. In addition Max will have competition from international cable television channels.

The days ahead for Max Television are not easy but they will have to focus on the non cable television subscribing English Language entertainment starved community in Sri Lanka and they could compete with the Cable TV networks by introducing programming not generally available on Cable networks in Sri Lanka.

We wish Max Television all the best in it's future endeavors.

Max Television : www.maxtelevision.lk

Maharaja's humbled & now on PEO TV

According to sources Maharaja channels Sirasa TV, Shakthi TV & Channel One MTV are now on PEO TV.

The channels are said to have been added from yesterday.

To read more on this please visit the link given below

PEO TV : New channels on PEO TV but they are local FTA Maharaja Ones

Rangiri TV now testing

Reports are reaching us that Rangiri TV is now testing on UHF 47. We are unable to report on which area the test transmissions can be received.

Please keep is updated on the latest regarding Rangiri TV as the days progress.

Max TV & Max Radio to relaunch as English Language channels

Reports are coming in that Max TV will relaunch in september & Max Radio will relaunch in october as total English language channels.

At present Max TV is telecasting Al Jazeera on it's frequencies and we expect it to retain Al Jazeera after the relaunch whilst telecasting other programming.

These reports are coming amidst reports that ITN is looking at moving Prime TV into a separate frequency & Prime Radio is planning on making a comeback. There is a chance that Prime TV and Radio may use the present Max TV & Radio frequencies to relaunch their respective channels, however this is cannot be confirmed.

It is highly likely that Max TV & Max Radio may launch a totally new TV & Radio station. We expect the channels to be rebranded.

Please keep us updated on the latest regarding Max TV & Max Radio as the days progress.

Sky Television & Radio Network

Recently information has surfaced about a brand new television & radio network due to launch in Sri Lanka in the near future. The network called Sky Television & Radio Network has it's website www.sky.lk already hosted with the words "Coming Soon" on the home page.

No other details are available about this network, therefore we request our fellow bloggers to keep us updated with information when they receive them.

Hiru TV to launch

ABC Network is set to launch Hiru TV in october this year. The channel is set to broadcast on a 24 hour basis according to initial reports. The programming contents have not been divulged at the moment and no indication of whether the channel will conduct digital or analog transmissions.

ABC which recently relaunched Sun FM after it being shutdown for more than a year is struggling to get Sun FM to be the top notch station that it was.

With Sha FM set to relaunch soon, it should be interesting to see how ABC Network performs with the upcoming television network.

New tower commissioned in kokavil

The new transmission tower commissioned at kokavil yesterday is set to contain transmission equipment to facilitate DVB-T transmissions. Reportedly state owned channel Rupavahini is set to broadcast initially on DVB-T. This is a major step in digital broadcasting in Sri Lanka since the analog frequencies are getting very crowded.

We hope the private television stations will follow suit and commence DVB-T transmissions to the north too and we hope the new broadcasting tower to be commissioned in peliyagoda is equipped with such facilities.

Specially local radio stations should move to digital transmission soon in order to provide a clear reception for the local public without any frequency overlaps.

However the lack of DVB-T and DVB-A receiving equipment means that only a few people would have the priviledge of receiving these transmissions. We hope steps are taken to provide people with low priced receiving equipment to view DVB transmissions.

SUBA ALUTH AWURUDDAK WEWA

We take this opportunity to wish all our fellow bloggers, staff & management of all media institutions in Sri Lanka a Happy New Year.

SUBA ALUTH AWURUDDAK WEWA

Please keep us updated on the latest as the days progress.

Sri Lanka's 1st sports channel launched

CSN (Carlton Sports Network) has replaced Prime TV over FTA & on all pay television networks that Prime TV was available on. CSN becomes the first locally operated sports channel in the country & it is still expected to retain some of the Prime TV programming giving it a more of a sports & lifestyle channel genre.

This channel is expected to broadcast many of the local big matches as well as school sports events in the near future.

Website : Carlton Sports Network - http://www.csn.lk/

Sports Channel "CSN" to launch soon plus "Prime TV" to relaunch on Mar 07th

Sri Lanka's first sports channel "Carlton Sports Network" will be launching soon on UHF 22 along with "Prime TV".

Presently testing in underway on UHF 22 and the launch is expected on Mar 07th 2011.

The two channels "Prime TV" & "Carlton Sports Network" will be carrying out transmissions on the same frequency. As of last night "Prime TV" went off air on Dialog TV, we believe that it has been permanently removed.

Please keep us updated on the latest regarding these channels as the days progress.

RBNL looking to expand to Sri Lanka

RBNL (Reliance Broadcasting Network Limited) is considering to expand into Sri Lanka plus other countries in the subcontinent. RBNL which launched Big CBS Prime in partnership with CBS Studios International will be launching two new channels Love & Spark during the month of March.

According to press reports RBNL have already sought downlinking permission and is in the process of negotiating with pay television operating in several countries. RBNL have the added advantage in countries such as Sri Lanka since they do not require to apply for downlink permission unlike in India & Pakistan plus they do not have to pay carriage fees for the channel for distribution on local pay networks.

The entry of RBNL in Sri Lanka should be completed during this calendar year.

Source : Economic Times of India - RBNL Plans to launch channels in neighbouring countries

Setanta Sports enters Sri Lanka via LBN with exclusive Rugby content

Setanta Sports Asia has entered the Sri Lankan market via LBN cable TV with some exclusive Rugby content. In a country where Rugby is closely followed it is a real treat to have this channel. Due to the popularity of Rugby in the country a channel the sports channel Setanta Sports Asia has been well received.

Many of the major sports network in this region which are India centric have been focusing on cricket very heavily which is good for all fans of cricket but Setanta have decided to focus on Rugby and this is indeed good news for all Rugby fans in the island. Sadly Setanta is only available on LBN which is limited in coverage and the big shot pay television operators such as Dialog & PEO TV have failed in acquiring the rights to broadcast this channel so far. However Setanta has expressed interest in expanding to Sri Lanka and we hope the pay operators are able to introduce the channel within a short period of time.

Website : Setanta Sports Asia

Happy New Year 2011

We take this opportunity to thank our fellow bloggers who have been with us throughout 2010 & continued to update us with the latest happenings in the media industry in Sri Lanka & wish them, the management & staff of all media institutions in Sri Lanka a

"Happy & Prosperous New Year 2011"

Sun rises on Jan 1st

Sun FM is launching tomorrow morning as per the trailers and information on their facebook page. This is a station that avid radio listeners missed over the past year. We wish Sun FM all the best as they rise again in Sri Lanka's airwaves.

Web Site : http://www.sunfm.lk/

Sun FM to relaunch on January 1st 2011

Information reaching us suggests that Sun FM will relaunch on January 1st 2011. The frequency is 98.8FM, we are not sure what their kandy & islandwide frequencies will be but hopefully they will be activated over the Christmas weekend.

Please keep us updated on the latest regarding Sun FM as the days progress.

"Merry Christmas To You All"

Merry Christmas

We take this opportunity to wish our fellow bloggers, management & staff of all media organisations in Sri Lanka a "Very Merry Christmas".

"Merry Christmas To You All"