The blurb 'Station to the Nation' - SLBC English Service will be re-launched with a new vision from today (1^st September). The oldest English radio channel will offer more local material for its fast growing listenership, with more credibility, program content, established character, accuracy, and credible dependency for news including wide spectrum in entertainment. Effective from September 1, the SLBC English Services would attain new image in Radio listening, yet maintain its rich tradition built over the years. The current nine-hour daily airtime allocated to the BBC will now be reduced to three and a half hours, giving listeners an opportunity to enjoy more local programs and music.

To accommodate growing demand from the audience for entertainment from SLBC studios and lateral programme content and simultaneously maintain its identification, the SLBC would enter a more modern realm, and foster progressive listener demands for updated entertainment, acceptable to a wide mix in audience appeal.

Chairman SLBC, Hudson Samarasinghe, indicated that programmes would include the 'Six to sixty' age groups. A wide range of program mix steaming from more entertainment time would mean a highly motivated group of program presenters who would place listener priorities foremost on their lists. The back-up music library has been quite often described as 'the best in Asia' dating back to those breakable, low fidelity, 78 records, well documented and usable.

Substantial material of the 40s, 50s, 60s music on long playing Hi Fi records are still being used and thanks to updated maintenance turn tables are in good nick. Commencing from today, the new look SLBC English Service will offer wide music genre from pop, to hip hop, to country, to mow town, Jazz, from the classics, to sponsored programmes, talk shows, educational interviews, current affairs, Open Forum, Religious (Buddhism, Catholic, Hindu & Islamic) programs, comedy blips, in short all that could be listened to and more importantly to have listener dials constantly switched to SLBC frequencies.

The SLBC also beams its English programs to All Asia, on short wave, in the 19 meter band, and also 31, and 49 meters. Listener audiences in those countries could be matched to most other regional broadcasters and more so standards are maintained at competitive levels.

(Courtesy : The Sunday Observer )