Radio in Sri Lanka

Radio broadcasting in Sri Lanka dates to 1923. Radio broadcasting, like other forms of media in Sri Lanka, is generally divided along linguistic lines with state and private media operators providing services in Sinhala, Tamil, and English language.

History

The first radio broadcast in Ceylon was in 1923 when recorded music was broadcast using parts of radio equipment from a captured German submarine. Regular broadcasting started in Colombo in July 1924. Ceylon's first radio station Radio Colombo started regular broadcasting on 16 December 1925. The station was taken over by the British military during World War II who renamed the station Radio SEAC which broadcast across South Asia from October 1944. After the war the station was handed back to the civilian government of Ceylon who renamed it Radio Ceylon on 1 October 1949. The station was immensely popular both in Ceylon and other parts of Asia.
The Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation Act No. 37 of 1966 incorporated the Department of Broadcasting. Radio Ceylon became a public corporation on 30 September 1967, changing its name to Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation. Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka in 1972 after becoming a republic and consequently CBC was renamed Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.
SLBC broadcast on medium wave until 1993 when FM broadcasting began. 95% of the country received FM transmissions by 1999. The government maintained a monopoly on radio broadcasting until the early 1990s when private radio stations were allowed to broadcast. Today there are numerous private radio stations but the state-owned stations continue to dominate the market.

Radio stations

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

Terrestrial radio

Station	Ownership	Owner	Language	Established	FM 1	FM 2	Internet
Buddhist Radio	Charity	Sri Sambodhi Media Network	Sinhala		101.3	101.5
City FM	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		89.6	89.8
Mathi FM	Private	MS Broadcasting Company	English	25 April 2012	108.1	108.3
FM Derana	Private	Derana Macro Entertainment under Dilith Jayaweera	Sinhala	29 March 2009	92.2	92.4
Fox FM	Private	Asset Radio Broadcasting	English		91.4
GoldFM	Private	Asia Broadcasting Corporation	English	September 1998	93.0	93.2
Hiru FM	Private	Asia Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala	1998	96.1	96.3
Lakhanda radio	State-owned	Independent Television Network	Sinhala		93.5	93.7
Kiss FM	Private	Voice of Asia Network	English	13 August 2009	96.9
Kothmale FM / Kotmale Community Radio	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala and Tamil		97.6
Lak FM	Private	Lakview Broadcasting	Sinhala		106.0	106.2
Lakviru	Private	Lakviru Radio and Television Network	Sinhala		105.2	105.4
Legends FM	Private	MBC Networks	English		96.6
Lite FM	Private	TNL Radio Network	English	27 February 1999	87.6	87.8
Neth FM	Private	Asset Radio Broadcasting	Sinhala		94.8	95.0
Pirai FM	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Tamil		90.1
Ran FM	Private	EAP Broadcasting Company	Sinhala		88.1	100.5
Rangiri Sri Lanka	Charity	Rangiri Sri Lanka Media Network	Sinhala		104.4	105.7
Real Radio	Private	Voice of Asia Network	English		97.1
Red FM	Private	Sky Media Network	English		107.8
Rhythm FM	Private	TNL Radio Network	Sinhala		95.6	95.8
Seth FM	Private	Friend Media Network	Sinhala		103.1
Shaa FM	Private	Asia Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		90.9	91.1
Shakthi FM	Private	MBC Networks	Tamil	20 November 1998	103.9	104.1
Shree FM	Private	EAP Broadcasting Company	Sinhala	1999	100.0	100.2
Sitha FM	Private	Sky Media Network	Sinhala		88.6	88.8
Sirasa FM	Private	MBC Networks	Sinhala	2 March 1994	106.5	106.7
Siyatha FM	Private	Voice of Asia Network	Sinhala		98.2	98.4
Vidula	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	English, Sinhala, Tamil		107.3	107.5
SLBC Commercial Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		94.3	94.5
Thendral FM	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Tamil		104.7	104.9
Radio Sri Lanka	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	English		97.4	97.6
SLBC National Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		91.7	91.9
SLBC National Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Tamil		102.1	102.3
SLBC Regional Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		97.6
SLBC Regional Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala/Tamil		90.1
SLBC Regional Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala/Tamil		107.3
SLBC Regional Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		107.3
SLBC Regional Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		107.3	107.5
SLBC Regional Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		107.3
SLBC Regional Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	Sinhala		90.1
SLBC Sports Service	State-owned	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation	English, Sinhala, Tamil		107.3	107.5
Sooriyan FM	Private	Asia Broadcasting Corporation	Tamil		103.4	103.6
Sun FM	Private	Asia Broadcasting Corporation	English		98.7	98.9
Supreme Radio	Private	Supreme Global Holdings	Sinhala		89.1	89.3
TNL Radio	Private	TNL Radio Network	English		99.2	101.8
V FM	Private	Lanka Television Network	Sinhala		107.0
Vasantham FM	State-owned	Independent Television Network	Tamil		102.6	102.8
Star tamil radio	Private	Voice of Asia Network	Tamil	11 February 2008	90.4	90.6
Capital Radio	Private	Sat Net	Tamil		94.0
Y FM	Private	MBC Networks	Sinhala	1 December 2005	92.7
Yes FM	Private	MBC Networks	English	10 December 1993	100.8	101.0
Tamil Radio	Private	Sky Media Network	Tamil		99.7	99.5
Athavan Radio	Private	Lyca Media	Tamil	October 2016	95.3

International broadcasters

Several international broadcasters operate radio stations aimed at Sri Lankan audiences but broadcasting from outside Sri Lanka:

All India Radio
Starline FM Visual Radio Sinhala, Hindi and Tamil Service
BBC World Service Sinhala Service
BBC World Service Tamil Service
China Radio International Sinhala Service
China Radio International Tamil Service
Radio Veritas Asia

Some broadcasters use local transmitters to relay their broadcasts. Deutsche Welle broadcasts are relayed via Trincomalee on medium wave and short wave. Trans World Radio India broadcasts on medium wave using SLBC's transmitter in Puttalam. The International Broadcasting Bureau broadcasts programmes from Voice of America, Radio Azadi, Radio Free Afghanistan, Radio Free Asia, Radio Liberty and Radio Sawa on short wave using the relay station at Iranawila.