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100 years of Radio Ceylon: How it once made a fractured region hum to a shared frequency

Radio Ceylon was the first radio broadcaster in Asia. As it completes 100 years, we look back at the role it has played for the subcontinent.

5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Dec 23, 2025 07:29 PM IST

Ameen Sayani's iconic show, Binaca Geetmala, was broadcast on Radio Ceylon for many years. (Express photo)

Radio Ceylon, one of the world’s oldest radio broadcasters, turned 100 last week.

At a time when radio was a novelty and decades before TV would transform South Asia’s media landscape, Radio Ceylon officially began broadcasting from December 16, 1925.

This was the first radio broadcaster in Asia. In India, while private radio broadcasting started in 1927, All India Radio began operations only in 1936. The Netherlands was the first country to begin public broadcasts in 1919, followed by the US in 1920. The BBC followed in 1922 and Radio Ceylon entered the airwaves soon after.

History of Radio Ceylon

Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was under British rule when an English engineer named Edward Harper, who worked at the Ceylon Telegraph Department, along with a few local and British enthusiasts founded the Ceylon Wireless Club in 1923. They began with experimental broadcasts — gramophone music from a small room in Colombo’s Fort area — by building a transmitter from radio equipment on a German submarine captured during World War 1.

During World War II, in October 1944, the British government took control of the station, renamed it Radio SEAC (South-East Asia Command), and installed a powerful transmitter to counter German and Japanese propaganda while broadcasting news to Allied forces across South and Southeast Asia. The transmitter was returned to Ceylon after the war, following independence in 1948.

In her book titled ‘The Green Light, Memories of Broadcasting in Sri Lanka’, broadcaster Gnanam Rathinam wrote, “In 1943 the Broadcasting Station premises was sited in a bungalow named The Bower, in Cotta Road, Borella (in Colombo). In early days, the programmes in all languages were scheduled and produced… The Colombo radio station at ‘The Bower’ ceased broadcasts by midnight on 31st December 1949 and Radio Ceylon came into being on 1st January 1950.”

Significance in the subcontinent

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From Karachi to Karnataka, Radio Ceylon had people tuning in and listening together. In a region that was fractured by politics, borders and language, the station’s broadcasts became a common ground for people. The music played and the programmed content was in English, Hindi, Sinhala and various other languages, creating a shared cultural space. Across cities, towns, and villages, millions of listeners tuned in together, listening to the same programmes and songs.

Radio Ceylon and Ameen Sayani’s Binaca Geetmala

In 1951, when All India Radio was well established, 21-year-old Ameen Sayani joined as an English announcer. This was also the time when the government was attempting to define the idea of “national culture”. BV Keskar, then I&B minister, banned film music on the radio in 1952, calling it “vulgar, erotic and Westernised”, and only allowed classical and folk music to be played.

This decision by the Indian government was seen as an opportunity by Radio Ceylon, which started a dedicated Hindi service soon after.

One of the most popular shows on Radio Ceylon then was ‘Hit Parade’, a western pop countdown show hosted initially by Greg Roskowski, one of the most popular announcers on the airwaves then. Letters from fans requesting a similar show on Hindi film music led Clifford Dodd, Director of Commercial Service, Radio Ceylon, to reach out to Sayani.

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This led to a Hindi-language version that would become Binaca Geetmala. Sayani spoke in Hindustani as he took his audience on a journey through film music. He threw in jokes, trivia, and sometimes interviews, and a nation would wait patiently, every Wednesday, for him to say, “Namaskar behno aur bhaiyon, main aapka dost Ameen Sayani bol raha hoon (Hello sisters and brothers, this is your friend Ameen Sayani speaking).”

In this way, India’s most popular music reached Indian listeners only after leaving the country. Sayani would record his show in Mumbai and the magnetic tapes would be flown to Colombo for broadcast on Radio Ceylon.

A few years later, veteran educationist and political activist Aruna Asaf Ali told Sayani that he needed to do these popular shows on AIR. She spoke to Jawaharlal Nehru, after which Vividh Bharti, the commercial broadcast service of AIR, began in 1957 and Hindi film music got back to Indian radio. Sayani began his sponsored programmes at AIR in 1970. But he continued to broadcast Binaca Geetmala from Radio Ceylon until 1988. The show was broadcast by Vividh Bharti from 1989 to 1994.

Not just music, Binaca Geetmala also helped popularise a small town in east India. Often, week after week, one heard on Radio Ceylon, “Ab agli farmaish Jhumri Telaiya se…(the next request is from Jhumri Telaiya).” A tiny mining town in Jharkhand, it gained immense popularity as a massive number of regular song requests would come from there.

Radio Ceylon today

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Radio Ceylon is now the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and continues to broadcast across multiple services and languages. It is not as well-known as it used to be, but remains a reminder of companionship in the subcontinent once, brought in by listening to music together.

Suanshu Khurana

Suanshu Khurana is an award-winning journalist and music critic currently serving as a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is best known for her nuanced writing on Indian culture, with a specific focus on classical music, cinema, and the arts. Expertise & Focus Areas Khurana specializes in the intersection of culture and society. Her beat involves deep-dive reporting on: Indian Classical Music: She is regarded as a definitive voice in documenting the lineages (Gharanas) and evolution of Hindustani classical music. Cinema & Theatre: Her critiques extend beyond reviews to analyze the socio-political narratives within Indian cinema and theater. Cultural Heritage: She frequently profiles legendary artists and unearths stories about India’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Professional Experience At The Indian Express, Khurana is responsible for curating and writing features for the Arts and Culture pages. Her work is characterized by long-form journalism that offers intimate portraits of artists and rigorous analysis of cultural trends. She has been instrumental in bringing the stories of both stalwarts and upcoming artistes to the forefront of mainstream media. Find all stories by Suanshu Khurana here ... Read More