Television
Vernon Corea created television history on the island of Sri Lanka when he was invited to present the first ever experimental television broadcast on 15 June 1972 by the Radio Society of Ceylon. He appeared on television screens in Colombo, in black and white, on a short TV programme, this was history in the making. Seven years later the first regular television transmission was conducted in Sri Lanka and the first TV presenter on that regular transmission was Vernon Corea's cousin, Vijaya Corea - he introduced his cousin to radio by asking him to present 'Kiddies Corner' a popular children's programme on Radio Ceylon in the 1960s. Vijaya Corea was one of many young broadcasters mentored by Vernon Corea - he went on to become the Director-General of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. Another protégé was Nihal Bhareti who went on to greater height heights in broadcasting and was the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation's Director of English Services. Leon Belleth was another mentee, after a successful career with Radio Ceylon/SLBC he retired in Australia.
There are now several television stations operating on the island, a far cry from the early experiments of the Radio Society of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1972.
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Famous quotes containing the word television:
“There was a girl who was running the traffic desk, and there was a woman who was on the overnight for radio as a producer, and my desk assistant was a woman. So when the world came to an end, we took over.”
—Marya McLaughlin, U.S. television newswoman. As quoted in Women in Television News, ch. 3, by Judith S. Gelfman (1976)
“Anyone afraid of what he thinks television does to the world is probably just afraid of the world.”
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—New Yorker (April 23, 1990)