Search

The Online Encyclopedia and Dictionary

 
     
 

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Quotes

   
 

Radio Ceylon

Radio Ceylon is the oldest radio station in South Asia. They say that broadcasting was started on an experimental basis in Ceylon by the Telegraph Department in 1923, just three years after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe.

In the first ever radio experiments in Colombo, gramophone music was broadcast from a tiny room in the Central Telegraph Office with the aid of a small transmitter built by the Telegraph Department engineers from the radio equipment of a captured German submarine.

The experiment was a real success and three years later, on December 16, 1925, a regular broadcasting service came to be instituted in Ceylon.

Edward Harper who came to Ceylon as Chief Engineer of the Telegraph Office in 1921, was the first person to actively promote broadcasting in Ceylon.

Harper launched the first experimental broadcast - he also founded the Ceylon Wireless Club together with British and Ceylonese radio enthusiasts in the city of Colombo. These were exciting times where radio in South Asia was concerned. Many regard Edward Harper as 'the Father of Broadcasting in Ceylon.'

Radio Ceylon has produced some of the finest announcers of South Asia among them Livy Wijemanne , Vernon Corea, Pearl Ondaatje , Tim Horshington , Greg Roskowski , Jimmy Barucha , Mil Sansoni , Eardley Peiris , Shirley Perera , Bob Harvie ,Claude Selveratnem , Chris Greet , Prosper Fernando , Ameen Sayani (of Binaca Geet Mala fame), S.P. Mylvaganam (the first Tamil Announcer on the Commercial Service), H.M.Gunasekera ,A.W.Dharmapala ,Karunaratne Abeysekera , Vijaya Corea ,Elmo Fernando , Eric Fernando , Nihal Bhareti and Leon Belleth .

The Hindu Newspaper placed Ameen Sayani and Vernon Corea of Radio Ceylon in the top five great broadcasters of the world.

Quotes on Radio Ceylon

  • ' I have to express my deep gratitude to what was then called Radio Ceylon. (Sri Lanka now). It had a slightly more open attitude and did play Western music, so that's where I became familiar with all kinds of things that I could slightly regret, like the complete works of Ricky Nelson. ' (Salman Rushdie)
  • ' For millions in this country, Radio Ceylon was not just a broadcasting station. It had a form and a personality. It was a companion who added a meaning to their lives, filled their vacant hours and has now left them with a host of memories of the melodious times which is hard to forget......' (Playback & Fast Forward Magazine - India)
  • ' Soon after conquering Mount Everest half a century ago, Edmund Hillary and Censored page turned on their transistor radio – and the first thing they heard was an overseas broadcast of Radio Ceylon, from more than 3,000 kilometres away. They joined millions of people across the Indian subcontinent who regularly tuned in to these broadcasts. A pioneer in broadcasting in Asia, Radio Ceylon for decades informed and entertained an overseas audience many times the population of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka....' (Panos)

External links

  • [1] http://www.vernoncorea.info - Vernon Corea The Golden Voice of Radio Ceylon
  • [2] http://www.slbc.lk - Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
Last updated: 05-03-2005 17:50:55