Television takes off; JRJ takes over ITN fathered by two of his nephews

Excerpted from vol, 2 of Sarath Amunugama’s autobiography

I visited Tokyo and had discussions with the Ministry of Finance and the Nippon Electrical Corporation [NEC] to quickly begin work on our Television complex. We could save time because it was an outright grant from Japan to thank JRJ for his memorable contribution at the Peace Conference in San Francisco. At the same time another grant was awarded at JRJ’s request for a hospital which was to become today’s Sri Jayewardenepura hospital.

Here too the President acted in his inimitable manner. He was asked to decide on the number of beds for the new hospital. He inquired from the Japanese authorities about the number of beds in their largest hospital abroad. The answer was 1000. JRJ asked for 1001 beds and the nonplussed Japanese agreed subject to their own request that the 1001st bed be permanently reserved for the use of JRJ. That was the type of ‘bon homie’ that prevailed at that time. Sri Lanka was placed high on the priority lists for technical cooperation and funding in the OECD countries as later proved in the bi-lateral funding of the Mahaweli scheme.

We organized a spectacular stone laying ceremony for the TV complex under the patronage of the President at the Colombo ladies hockey grounds which now houses Rupavahini. It was also a farewell of sorts for Ambassador Ochi who was retiring amid much appreciation from his government. Ochi, representing Japan, had missed out on funding a Mahaweli dam. The UK, Germany, Canada and Sweden had agreed to undertake those projects. So TV was Ochi’s final throw of the dice.

This was his last assignment and we made it a memorable one for him. Since Japan was identified as a Buddhist country the senior priests who were connected to the SLBC came in large numbers. They were led by Baddegama Wimalawansa, Tallale Dhammananda and Hettimulle Vajirabuddhi Theros who were held in high regard among the ‘intellectual Sangha. The President made a thoughtful speech saying that “Rupavahini should be a Satyavahini”. Ambassador Ochi replied and I gave the vote of thanks ending with a few sentences in Japanese which I had memorized the night before.

Altogether it was an impressive ceremony, and the construction work began the following day. Teams of Japanese specialists were coming in regularly and with my new Minister Anandatissa’s approval I set up a steering committee of SLBC, Film Unit, Information Department and Ministry of Finance officials under my chairmanship to monitor progress weekly. A cell was set up in the Ministry to service the steering Committee. In fact it was not too complicated an operation since this was a ‘turnkey’ project, which meant that all the construction work was undertaken by the Japanese contractor who was paid direct in Tokyo. Thus the work went on without a hitch and we were working ahead of schedule.

PAL System

At this stage I had to make a crucial decision regarding the Television transmission standard. There were three models – American, French [NTSC] and German [PAL]. This referred to the transmission and reception of the TV image. The Indian Doordharshan TV which was primitive and was transmitting black and white images to limited areas was using NTSC based on a UNESCO grant. I discussed this question with the President and decided to consult Arthur Clarke who was living in Colombo and was the father of the ‘geo stationary satellite’.

A few days later Arthur called over and advised, in no uncertain terms, that we should select the PAL option. I informed the Japanese side about our choice and, despite the fact that they used NTSC in Japan, they agreed to provide the PAL system. This has been, as later proved, to be a correct decision and the country is indebted to Arthur Clarke for his forthright and timely advice.

Pidurutalagala

Another strategic decision to be made was regarding the location of TV transmitters. Though countries with a large land mass had to depend on satellites for transmitting the signal, we were fortunate in that our topography enabled us to go for a terrestrial system. This was a great advantage both in terms of costs and easy maintenance. As Arthur Clarke said, “Sri Lanka had been designed by god for TV”. With a central hill massif and the highest point of Pidurutalagala right in the centre of it, we could erect the main tower from which the signal could radiate island-wide.

It only needed two booster towers – in Kokavil in the north and Deniyaya in the south – to reach every nook and corner of the island. This configuration which had the approval of Japanese as well as SLBC engineers, some of whom like Shantilal Nanayakkara had worked as TV engineers abroad, was decided on without much difficulty. The problem however was to take the main tower to Pedro since the top was a virgin jungle with no access.

The Japanese had suggested building a road up to the top but both my Minister and I were opposed to cutting a road as that would lead to the rape of a national treasure by timber extractors and vandals. It was while pondering the problem that I tried out a far out solution which finally worked, though it seems like the ending of a Hollywood movie. I contacted the American Embassy and diverted its 7th fleet to Colombo harbour. Giant helicopters of the 7th fleet were used to airlift the TV towers to the top of Pidurutalagala. This must be recorded as a unique service of the much maligned US navy.

Independent Television Network [ITN]

While the work on the National station was proceeding satisfactorily, Anil Wijewardene and Shan Wickremesinghe were hard at work setting up their private TV station at Mahalwarawa. Shan who had studied engineering in the UK was a genius in mechanical and engineering matters and Anil took care of the administrative side of the operation. JRJ kept an avuncular eye on the family project, meeting his nephews from time to time and asking us to monitor their progress.

Their channel was named the Independent Television Network [ITN] and an American investor joined them to help expedite the project. After a couple of years they were ready to begin transmissions well ahead of the national system [Rupavahini]. ITN soon began test transmissions which were enthusiastically viewed by Colombo society. Anil had got down popular programmes like ‘Sesame Street’ and ‘Mind your Language’ which whetted our appetite for TV.

ITN then announced that they would begin regular broadcasts which would cover a wide urban area soon. Local companies then began to sell TV reception sets mostly imported from Japan. They were all globally known brands and were based on ‘state of the art’ technology. In fact the TV sets were selling in such large numbers that it was way ahead of the projections made by UNESCO and other specialized bodies. It was suggested that some of these sets may be smuggled to India as global brands were hard to come by there.

Indian television in black and white, which was geared to educating farmers, was not very popular. Expectations on ITN were running high and we all looked forward to opening day. Later I was told that Mrs. Elina Jayewardene had invited her friends to her home for tea and TV. The President himself had joined the party. Imagine everybody’s surprise, and anger, when at the appointed hour nothing appeared on their screens. Actually what they saw was a series of white lines, which gave the effect of rain, on a black screen.

Telephones started to ring at Breamar and the President was humiliated. He called Anandatissa and asked him to take over ITN and run it properly. The Minister and all of us were embarrassed because we liked Shan and Anil as young entrepreneurs. We all had to climb out of the hole that they had dug because the public which had invested in TV sets were not interested in the niceties of the blame game. They blamed the President and his Government.

We were savvy enough to know that the family will try to make amends and get the President to rescind his order for a takeover by the Ministry. For some reason, unknown to us, JRJ refused to budge. Our guess was that Mrs. Jayewardene had put her foot down. The President’s decision was a traumatic one for his kin group. Anil’s mother who was a very smart lady, was devastated by this decision. She told me that it reminded her of the traumas inflicted on her husband, Seevali, and family by the Wijewardenes many years ago. (background note – Seevali Wijewardene was ostracized by his father, DR Wijewardene over his marriage).

I replied that JRJ had nurtured this project and had given every opportunity to his young relatives. His decision was a ‘bona fide’ one as he had to face the wrath of the public, I assured her. But she was not satisfied with my explanation. She quite rightly encouraged her son and nephew to start all over again. Anil continued to provide programmes to the reconstituted ITN and the ‘never say die’ Shan worked round the clock and set up Tele Shan which later metamorphosed into the present TNL. Anil quit along the way and Shan and his daughter Ishini ran TNL.

Given the ‘hot potato’ of ITN overnight by the President we had to scramble to salvage the operation. Since we took over ITN under the SLBC Act, I with the Minister’s concurrence, decided to appoint Thevis Guruge – the Director General of SLBC – as the Competent Authority of the network. Guruge was an ideal choice because he was a key member of our Rupavahini planning cell and a veteran of radio broadcasting. He also had a reputation as a ‘go getter’ who had the confidence of his staff.

Because of this interlocking arrangement we could easily deploy the staff and finances of SLBC to get ITN moving. It also had the advantage that we could now coordinate ITN operations with the building of Rupavahini which was already ahead of schedule. Many of the early broadcasters of TV came from SLBC while its camera and editing departments were manned by veterans from the Government Film Unit.

I had sent all Departmental heads of the GFU for training in Germany and Malaysia and outstanding technicians like Leo Wickremaratne, Sanath Liyanage and Wimal Perera and Engineers like Buell and Shantilal Nanayakkara were attached to ITN. With all that talent we took a daring decision to telecast the Independence Day celebrations of 1980 from Galle Face green. SLBC announcers led by H.M. Gunasekere and Palitha Perera were on duty, and we successfully completed our mission.

My Minister and JRJ were delighted. Thanks to the take over and the skills of our personnel we were trained and ready when Rupavahini was launched in 1982. Ochi was replaced by Ambassador Chiba who was a veteran Foreign Service Officer having served in many western capitals before being assigned to Colombo. He worked very -closely with our Ministry and Rupavahini was able to broadcast before the scheduled date.

Then the question of appointing the new Chairman arose. I strongly recommended the appointment of M.J. Perera who was a veteran CCS officer and a much admired Director of Radio Ceylon in its heyday. The President and Menikdiwela were not too happy with our proposal but went along as up to now we had piloted the operation without any problems. The appointment was made but soon I began to have reservations.

I had planned to have a lean and mean administration with productions both in- house and contracted out to many new producers who could sell their wares to Rupavahini. The rise of the ‘Independents’ was the latest approach in order to introduce variety and professionalism to TV broadcasting. MJ’s approach was quite different. As he had done in his Radio Ceylon days he wanted to concentrate power in his own hands and accommodate his loyalists who were encouraged to sing his praise.

As usual he attempted to create his own ‘comfort zone’ by surrounding himself with artistes in other fields such as the Sinhala stage who were given executive positions that they were not familiar with. He expanded the administration, even going to the extent of first building an administration block to accommodate a large number of clerks who were called ‘The Horana Horde’ since many of them came from his home town.

The idea of a new style TV was abandoned for a bureaucratic monolith which to date cannot compete with the private channels which are lean and mean and making handsome profits. State TV is at the bottom of viewer ratings and its Chairmen have had to appeal to the Treasury for funds to pay its overstaffed cadres. The latest equipment donated by Japan are not utilized and corruption is rampant, as in most state Institutions. Many years later when I was an advisor to the President, I managed to change the Board but by then it was too late. State radio and television have been rejected by the audience.