WORLDWIDE DX CLUB Weekly Top News

South India due to their regular film song broadcasts. Almost all
households used to tune into their film song programmes from 0900 UT (2:30
pm). We were not interested in the morning English broadcasts from Ceylon
(Old timers still use this name and I too like it) as the time slots were
borrowed by numerous Christian broadcasters pumping their messages from
heaven!
But the Anglo-Indian community really glued their ears to the morning
broadcasts as Ceylon used to broadcast the latest English pops and nice
talk shows. All that was a matter of past. The arrival of TV, mostly Cable
Television, put an end to the popularity of SLBC.
During my high school days I could to hear almost all low power medium
wave and domestic shortwave channels from Sri Lanka. But these are not
active now due to the advent of FM on the Island. In this edition of
Report from India I have written an article on history of SLBC. Hope
everybody enjoy this article on my childhood companion, SLBC.
Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation.
History
Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was one of the first British colonies to introduce
radio broadcasting a few years after its inauguration in Europe. The
arrangements made for broadcasting service in Great Britain in 1923
involved the granting of a license to the British Broadcasting Company for
the establishment of stations in different parts of the country. This
sparked off unusual interest in broadcasting in a number of British
colonies.
In Sri Lanka a committee was appointed to report on the feasibility of
Radio broadcasting. A significant event took place in 1921. Mr. Edward
Harper arrived in Ceylon on July 21, 1921 to take up duties as Chief
Engineer of Telegraphs. Harper brought with him a deep interest in the
medium of radio broadcasting. He was ably supported in the endeavour by a
team of British and local enthusiasts. Harper was instrumental in banding
the radio enthusiasts together by forming the Ceylon Wireless Club. The
committee recommended that making use of the existing plant at the Colombo
Wireless Station and equipping it with additional apparatus should
commence radio broadcasting. Mr. Harper's vantage position as Chief
Engineer was helpful in introducing radio broadcasting.
The first experimental broadcast was done on 22 February 1924. The new
home of the YMCA in Colombo was opened by the Bishop of Colombo. The
proceedings of the opening ceremony were broadcast, creating a new history
in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Just four months after the YMCA experiment, radio
broadcasting was inaugurated by Sir William Henry Manning, the then
British Governor on 27 June 1924 at 2.30pm. Sir Manning was due to address
the members of the Engineering Association of Ceylon at the annual
session. It so happened that Mr. Harper made it the occasion to inaugurate
broadcasting.
This event was very significant since it marked the inauguration of
broadcasting in the first South Asian country. There is a difference of
opinion on the date of the inauguration of radio broadcasting in the
country. December 16 1925, was actually the day on which the improved
transmitter was opened by the then Governor - the actual date of
inauguration was 27 June 1924. On June 27 1924 at 3.30pm a programme of
recorded music was broadcast by placing a microphone in front of an
ordinary gramophone. The studio amplifier and transmitter were all housed
in one small room in the Central Telegraphic Office building. The public
was informed that this temporary apparatus was Limited range and power and
that the broadcasts were experimental and liable to disturbances.
After July 1, 1924 broadcasts were somewhat irregular, two or three times