SLRC
The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) is a state-owned media institution. The SLRC currently comes under the purview of the Ministry of Defence. The SLRC was established by the parliament under the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Act No. 6 of 1982 to provide a national television service. Mapatunage James Perera is considered to be the founding Chairperson of the SLRC.
In 1992, the government permitted private investors to enter the field of television broadcasting under the control and supervision of the SLRC. In relation to issuing private TV broadcasting licenses, the Ministry overseeing SLRC uses the Rupavahini Corporation Act No. 6 of 1982. Within this context, the SLRC became both an operator of TV outlets as well as a regulating body which was responsible for the provision of transmission licenses.
All board members of the SLRC are appointed by the respective Minister overseeing SLRC. The criteria specified for appointments includes the member having to disclose the nature and extent of shares, if any, held in companies the Corporation has entered into a contract with. The Minister may also make temporary appointments and removals of members without providing a basis for these decisions. The arrangement has been criticised by academia and the press for its lack of independence and transparency as well as possibly serving political purposes. (see Legal Assessment)
Currently, the SLRC manages three TV channels: Rupavahini, Channel Eye and Nethra TV. The Sinhala language channel Rupavahini has an audience reach of 4.3 percent. Channel Eye, an English language channel, and Nethra TV, a Tamil language channel, broadcast on the same TV frequency. They collectively have an audience reach of 3.2 percent. Another English language channel, NTV, operated between 2009 and 2015, but owing to low ratings, it ceased broadcasting.
Business Form
State owned
Legal Form
Public Enterprise/ Commerical Corporation
Business Sectors
TV broadcasting and issuing broadcasting licenses to private TV stations.
Individual Owner
The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) comes under the purview of the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media. This government body also oversees other divisions such as the Department of Information, the Independent Television Nertwork Limited (ITN), the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL) and the Sri Lanka Press Council among several others.
General Information
Founding Year
1982
Affiliated Interests Founder
The state under the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Act No. 6 of 1982.
Employees
Missing Data
Contact
Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation
No. 2204, Torrington Square, Colombo 7
General: +94 11 250 1050, +94 11 599 506
Fax: +94 11 258 0929
Email: rupavahini@yahoo.com
Website: www.rupavahini.lk
Tax/ ID Number
Missing Data
Financial Information
Revenue (Financial Data/ Optional)
14 Mio. $ / 2.139 Mio. LKR
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
-1.2 Mio. $ / -196 Mio. LKR
Advertising (in % of total funding)
Missing Data
Management
Executive Board
Enokaa Sathyangani Keerthinanda – has been the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation since June 2018. She is a film director and producer, who started her career in TV and films at Telecine (Pvt) Limited, which was considered to be the largest television production company in South Asia in 1992.
Nawaz Mohammed – Working Director and Board Member at SLRC
Saranga Wijerathne – Director General and Board Member at SLRC
Sithendra Senaratne – Chairperson of the National Film Corporation and Board Member at SLRC
Siddi Mohamed Farook – was appointed Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) in December 2017 by the Minister of Finance and Mass Media, Mangala Samaraweera. He is described as an entrepreneur in the field of Telecommunications and served as the CEO of Pan Asia Power PLC prior to joining SLBC.
Further Information
Meta Data
The official website of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) provides limited information on the management structure. Secondary sources and other government websites were referenced to compile data on the company. Viewership data was gathered from the Kantar Lanka Market Research Bureau (LMRB) for the year 2017. While the Media Ownership Monitor research team reached out to the SLRC by formally requesting for the company’s information on 20 July 2018, the company did not respond to the aforementioned request. The Central Bank's average exchange rate for 2017 (152.45) was used to convert the amounts into USD.
