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Sooriyan FM

Sooriyan FM is a Tamil language radio station which is managed by Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited. On its official website, Sooriyan FM lists itself as the first private Tamil language radio station in the country. Founded by Rayynor Silva, Sooriyan FM has several sister stations including Hiru FM, Shaa FM, Gold FM and Sun FM. As per the research conducted by the Kantar Lanka Market Research Bureau (LMRB) for the year 2017, the listenership of the station is 9.47 percent.

In 2007, the Sri Lankan government suspended ABC’s radio broadcasting licenses on two objections: firstly, that although ABC’s licenses were issued on 17 November 1995, the company had only been incorporated in November; secondly, that ABC had broadcasted an erroneous report during the country’s armed conflict. Despite ABC issuing an apology and attempting to rectify the erroneous report, the government proceeded with the suspension on the grounds that it was reportedly a “gross violation of the freedom of expression”. Moreover, the Supreme Court dismissed ABC’s fundamental rights petition and ordered Chairperson Rayynor Silva to pay a Rs. 250,000 (2,259.99 USD) cash bail for submitting a false affidavit to the Supreme Court which had reportedly suppressed the initial erroneous news content ABC had broadcasted. Several media-related groups such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Free Media Movement (FMM) however widely condemned the suspension.

Key facts

Audience Share

9.47%

Ownership Type

Private

Geographic Coverage

National

Content Type

Free to air

Data Publicly Available

ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.

2 ♥

Media Companies / Groups

Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited

Ownership

Ownership Structure

Sooriyan FM is owned by Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited, a member of Rayynor Silva Holdings (Pvt) Limited. The total shares of the company are owned by Skyline Pacific Real Estate (Pvt) Limited. Notably, Skyline Pacific Real Estate (Pvt) Limited is wholly owned by the Silva family, particularly by Chairperson Rayynor Silva (33.33%), his mother (33.33%) and father (33.33%).

Voting Rights

Missing Data

Individual Owner

Media Companies / Groups
Facts

General Information

Founding Year

1998

Affiliated Interests Founder

The radio station was founded by Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited, which is owned by Rayynor Silva. Rayynor Silva is a well-known businessman in the broadcasting field of Sri Lanka. He is the Chairperson of Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited, which remains one of the largest radio networks in the country. He took over Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited after the UK-based Sunrise Group closed down their operations in both the UK and Sri Lanka. Rayynor’s brother Vincent Silva serves as the current CEO of Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited. Meanwhile, former Member of Parliament Duminda Silva is also Rayynor Silva’s brother. On 11 October 2018 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by Duminda Silva for the murder of former Member of Parliament, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra.

Affiliated Interests Ceo

Vincent Silva is the CEO of Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited. He is the brother of Chairperson Rayynor Silva and former Member of Parliament, Duminda Silva, who was sentenced to death for the murder of former Member of Parliament, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra. Vincent also serves as a Director in Skyline Pacific Real Estate (Pvt) Limited, which was the sole shareholder of Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited until March 2018.

Affiliated Interests Editor-In-Chief

A.R.V. Loshan is the current Director of Programming. For more than 14 years, he has served as a journalist in Sri Lanka’s media sphere. In addition to this, he has held the post of Senior Programme Executive of Shakthi FM and Shakthi TV, part of The Capital Maharaja Organisation, as well as the Head of of Vettri FM.

Affiliated Interests other important people

Missing Data

Contact

Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited, 35th Floor, East Tower World Trade Center, Colombo 01

Tel: +94 11 2 337 555

Fax: (+94) 112 346 870

E-mail : md@asiabroadcasting.lk

Website: www.sooriyanfm.lk

Financial Information

Revenue (in Mill. $)

Missing Data

Operating Profit (in Mill. $)

Missing Data

Advertising (in % of total funding)

Missing Data

Market Share

Missing Data

Further Information

Meta Data

Information on Sooriyan FM was obtained through the official website of the radio station as well as secondary sources. However, information on the Chairperson Rayynor Silva was accessible on the official website of Rayynor Silva Holdings (Pvt) Limited. Details about the ownership structure were gathered through the annual returns available at the Department of Registrar of Companies. The designations of the key individuals at Sooriyan FM were confirmed upon contacting the station directly and also speaking with the Director of Programming. Listenership data was obtained from the Kantar Lanka Market Research Bureau (LMRB) for the year 2017 (January- November). While the Media Ownership Monitor research team reached out to Asia Broadcasting Corporation (Pvt) Limited 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 2007 (110.62) was used to convert the amounts into USD.

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