# Television in Sri Lanka

Television in Sri Lanka dates back to 1979. Television broadcasting, like other forms of media in the country, is generally divided along linguistic lines with state and private media operators providing services in Sinhala, Tamil, and English languages.

## History

Preliminary work was underway in the first half of the 1970s.
Businessmen Anil Wijewardena and Shan Wickremasinghe established the country's first TV station Independent Television Network which started broadcasting on 15 April 1979. The new station remained independent for less than two months as the government took control of it on 5 June 1979 following a dispute with President J. R. Jayewardene. Sri Lanka's second state-owned TV station - Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) - was established by the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Act No. 6 of 1982. SLRC started broadcasting on 15 February 1982. The Act required the SLRC to maintain taste and decency and not to incite crime and disorder or cause religious or public offence.
The government maintained a monopoly on television broadcasting until 1992 when private TV stations were allowed to broadcast but they were to be regulated by the SLRC. Maharaja Television (MTV), a joint venture between Capital Maharaja and Singapore Telecommunications Limited, was one of the first private TV stations. Since then many new TV stations have started in Sri Lanka. There are also a number of satellite networks and pay per view television networks in Sri Lanka. The national telecommunications provider Sri Lanka Telecom also launched an IPTV service in 2008.
Since then, during the last two decades, multiple broadcasting networks have entered the public frequencies. A privately owned company, Swarnawahini came into action in 1997 and still functions under the same brand name. In 2005 another major television channel came into action under the name Derana which now has multiple broadcasting platforms including radio, printed media, and a fully dedicated news channel called adaderana24X7.
Since 2020, when the Pandemic started taking over the country's Education system, Television has been more and more in use for distance education.
A table has been created for the children to find channels where they can study freely in Sri Lanka if they cannot go to schools

## Television providers
### Current

The following is a list of current television providers based in Sri Lanka.
| Provider | Ownership | Owner | Transmission | Established |
| Ask Cable Vision | Private | Ask Media & Cable Vision | Transmission | 2010 |
| City Cable | Private | City Cable Links | Transmission | |
| Dialog TV | Private | Dialog Axiata | Transmission | July 2005 |
| Star TV Lanka Satnet | Private | Star TV Lanka | Digital satellite | 1945 |
| Lanka Broadband Networks | Private | Lanka Broadband Networks | Analog cable, digital cable | 2000 |
| PEO TV | State-owned | SLTMobitel | IPTV | September 2008 |
| Satcom | Private | Future Sat Com Holdings | Satellite | |
| TV Lanka | Private | | Digital terrestrial | 2012 |

### Former

The following is a list of former television providers which were based in Sri Lanka.
| Provider | Ownership | Owner | Transmission | Established | Closed |
| Multivision | Private | Ruhunu 2001 Multivision | Analog microwave | 1999 | 2008 |
| Franknet | Private | T.Guhan | Cable TV | 1995 | 1998 |

## Television stations
### Current

The following is a list of current television stations based in Sri Lanka.
| Station | Ownership | Owner | Language | Established | Terrestrial | Terrestrial | Satellite | Satellite | Satellite | | Cable | IPTV | Streaming |
| Station | Ownership | Owner | Language | Established | Analogue | Digital | Dialog TV | Dish TV | Freesat | ASK Cable Vision (Pvt) Ltd | LBN | PEO TV | Streaming |
| Haritha TV | Non-profit | Haritha Network | Sinhala | 31 March 2021 | | | 14 | | | | | 9 | |
| A Plus Kids TV | Private | Ru Sala Media Networks Pvt Ltd | Sinhala | 3 July 2017 | | | 48 | | | | | | |
| Ada Derana 24 | Private | Derana Macro Entertainment under Dilith Jayaweera | Sinhala/English | 20 July 2014 | | | 14 | 2508 | | | | 14 | |
| ART Television | Private | IWS Holdings | English | 1996 | | | 13 | | | | | 017 | |
| Channel C | Private | Wide Angle Productions | Sinhala | 10 March 2008 | | | 45 | | | | | | |
| Channel Eye | State-owned | Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation | English | April 1999 | | 03 | 2572 | | | | 002 | | |
| Channel One | Private | Dialog TV | Sinhala / English | 6 June 2019 | | | 1 | | | | | | |
| Citi Hitz | Private | OnAir World Ceylon | Sinhala | 10 December 2007 | | | 019 | | | | | | |
| Colombo TV | Private | Colombo Television Limited | Sinhala | 1 January 2015 | | | | | | | | 111 | |
| Dan TV | Private | ASK Media (Pvt) Ltd | Tamil | 1 January 1999 | | | | | | | | | |
| Dharmavahini TV | Private | Dharmavahini Foundation | Sinhala | 20 May 2007 | | | | | | | | | |
| Dream TV | Private | GalleZone Solutions | Sinhala | 2010 | | | | 2511 | | | | 015 | |
| ETV | Private | Lyca Productions | English | 1995 | | | | | | | | 119 | |
| Heritage TV | Private | Heritage Television | Sinhala | 8 May 2009 | | | | | | | | | |
| Hiru TV | Private | Asia Broadcasting Corporation | Sinhala | 23 May 2012 | | | 11 | 2507 | | | | 019 | |
| ITN Channel | State-owned | Independent Television Network | Sinhala | 13 April 1979 | | | 04 | 2517 | | | | 003 | |
| Knowledge TV | Private | Pix & Words | Sinhala | 2010 | | | | | | | | 018 | |
| Nethra TV | State-owned | Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation | Tamil | 1 January 2008 | | | | | | | | 016 | |
| Rangiri TV | Non-profit | Rangiri Sri Lanka Media Network | Sinhala | July 2011 | | | 21 | 2532 | | | | 022 | |
| Raw TV | Private | Raw Television | Sinhala | 26 October 2015 | | | | | | | | | |
| Ridee TV | Private | Tiss Nagodavithana Films | Sinhala | 2012 | | | 18 | | | | | | |
| Rupavahini | State-owned | Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation | Sinhala | 15 February 1982 | | | 002 | 2506 | | | | 001 | |
| Jaya TV Sri Lanka | Private | Jayamaga Media Network | Sinhala | 04 February 2020 | | | 25 | | | | | 94 | |
| Supreme TV | Private | Supreme Global Holdings | Sinhala | 19 December 2019 | | | 20 | | | | | 16 | |
| Sarana TV | Non-profit | Sarana Media Network | Sinhala | 2014 | | | | | | | | 094 | |
| Shakthi TV | Private | MTV Channel | Tamil | 20 October 1998 | | | 09 | 2609 | | | | 011 | |
| Shraddha TV | Non-profit | Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery | Sinhala | 29 September 2012 | | | 27 | 2531 | 27 | | | 099 | |
| Sindu TV | Private | Iraj Productions | English/Sinhala | 2015 | | | | | | | | | |
| Sirasa TV | Private | MTV Channel | Sinhala | 10 June 1998 | | | 08 | 2513 | | | | 010 | |
| Siyatha TV | Private | Voice of Asia Network | Sinhala | 17 September 2009 | | | 15 | 2512 | | | | 008(SD) 300(HD) | |
| Siyasa TV | Private | Siyasa Media Network | Sinhala | 28 January 2014 | | | | | | | | 095 | |
| Sri TV | Private | Sri TV | Sinhala | 2006 | | | | | | | | | |
| Star Tamil | Private | Voice of Asia Network | Tamil | 17 September 2009 | | | | 2618 | | | | 021 | |
| Swarga TV | Non-profit | Rock Foundation | English/Sinhala/Tamil | 2011 | | | 30 | | | | | | |
| Swarnavahini | Private | Lyca Productions | Sinhala | 1997 | | | 07 | 2516 | | | | 006 | |
| The Buddhist | Non-profit | Sri Sambodhi Foundation | Sinhala | 29 June 2007 | | | 026 | 2592 | | | | 096 | |
| TNL TV | Private | Telshan Networks | English/Sinhala | 21 June 1993 | | | 12 | 2526 | | | | 013 | |
| TV 1 | Private | MTV Channel | English/Sinhala | 14 December 1992 | | | 10 | 2553 | | | | 012 | |
| TV Derana | Private | Derana Macro Entertainment under Dilith Jayaweera | Sinhala | 11 October 2005 | | | 06 | 2514 | | | | 004 | |
| TV Didula | Non-profit | Sanhinda Media Network | Sinhala | 20 February 2016 | | | 17 | 2509 | | | | 117 | |
| UTV Tamil | Private | SATIS Agency (Pvt) Ltd | Tamil | 23 March 2017 | | | 23 | | | | | 127 | |
| Vasantham TV | State-owned | Independent Television Network | Tamil | 25 June 2009 | | | 005 | 2614 | | | | 007 | |
| Verbum TV | Non-profit | Verbum Television | English/Sinhala/Tamil | 2014 | | | 031 | | | | | 093 | |
| CeyFLiX | Private | Ausflix PTY LTD | Sinhala/English/Tamil/Hindi | 2019 | | | | | | | | | |
| Lankan Link | Private | CodeNinja PTY LTD | Sinhala/English/Tamil | 2015 | | | | | | | | | |

### Former

The following is a list of former television stations which were based in Sri Lanka.
| Station | Ownership | Owner | Language | Established | Closed | Notes |
| Carlton Sports Network | Private | Carlton Sports Network | English/Sinhala | 7 March 2011 | 2016 | License suspended |
| DAN Tamil Oli | Private | Ask Media and Cable Vision Network | Tamil | January 2009 | 2013 | Now shown only on cable and satellite. |
| NTV | State-owned | Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation | English | 18 November 2009 | 2015 | |
| Prime TV | State-owned | Independent Television Network | English | 12 November 2009 | 2010 | |
| TV 2 | Private | Peoples Media Network | English | 1 November 2008 | 2009 | |
| You TV | Private | MGM Networks | English/Sinhala/Tamil | 17 January 2007 | | |