2ND LEAD

Colombo soft launches FM channel in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 2008, 17:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka government resumed its broadcast to 'Listeners in All India', with a newly adopted name, diplomatically aiming at dampening the emotional upsurge of sympathy and support expressed all over Tamil Nadu State, sources in Chennai said. The Tamil Nadu media reports related to the Sri Lankan government's war on the Tamils in Vanni being unfavorable to it, the resumption of the broadcast from Colombo appears to be a propaganda measure adopted by Sri Lanka government, the sources added.

The earlier broadcasting service from Sri Lanka Broadcasting Service named Colombo International Broadcasting Service had been stopped since 31 May 2008 due to the lack of advertisement revenues from Middle Wave broadcast as many competitors had shifted to FM in recent times.

However, the state-owned broadcasting corporation was recently instructed to launch the FM service to disseminate government views to the audience in Tamil Nadu, informed sources in Colombo said.

Though only entertainment programs would be broadcast first, news stories are to follow soon, the sources added.