The National Television, which incurred losses until 2024, has now started making profits.

At a time when the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation is celebrating its 44th glorious anniversary, it has for the first time in recent history gained the ability to operate independently without financial contributions from the Treasury. The national television, which was entirely dependent on Treasury allocations from 2017 to 2024, has successfully freed itself from that situation since last year, stated Mr. Gihan de Silva, the Chairman of the Corporation.

He revealed this during a special media briefing held for the Rupavahini anniversary, which falls on February 14th.

In conjunction with this celebration, a series of religious programs has been organized, under which an all-night Pirith chanting ceremony is scheduled to be held at the Rupavahini premises on the night of the 13th of this month, and an alms-giving meritorious deed on the 14th. Additionally, the Chairman further stated that many other special programs, including an all-religious program on the 15th, will be implemented.

The Chairman pointed out that the national channel, which began in 1982 as a color television gift from the Japanese government, has now become a national heritage of the country. He emphasized that its objective is to operate independently and impartially, without becoming a mouthpiece for any government, in line with the government's ‘A Prosperous Country, A Beautiful Life’ policy series. As a result of successful discussions with Japan's JICA institution, the national television is set to completely transition from its current analog technology to digitalization within the next few months, and Sri Lanka's first 4K technology studio will be acquired by the national television within two years.

Commenting on the channel's program content, he stated that the national channel launched a massive series of programs on food security at a time when no other media paid attention to it. For this, 317 programs were broadcast within a short period of four months, with the participation of over a thousand doctors and intellectuals. Steps have also been taken to create many quality children's programs in the future that properly safeguard children's culture, morality, and language usage. Giving new life to the art of drama, which had collapsed due to the purchase of meaningless teledramas at exorbitant prices in the past, the current administration has taken steps to select creations transparently without the intervention of the Chairman or the Director General.

Meanwhile, Mr. Manoj Amarasinghe, the Director General of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, stated that as a full member of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the national television plays a massive role at an international level. Last November, Rupavahini also successfully hosted an international conference in the country with the participation of nearly 40 foreign countries. Through these strong international relations, it has been possible to bring more reliable foreign news closer to local audiences, and the national television has also been able to become the channel with the most awards, winning over 26 awards at the 2024 Rupavahini State Awards ceremony.