Heritage 24/7

Heritage TV expands into a 24-hour channel with a global reach:

By Sureshni Pilapitiya

Giving priority to Sri Lankan Culture and Arts was Hemanalin Karunarathne’s greatest ambition in his career. As a veteran TV presenter and programmer, he travelled to many places, met different people and learnt about their beliefs, rituals and cultures. He wanted to show all that he learnt through his own mode of expression. He launched Heritage TV, (HTV) six years ago with the clear intention of taking Sri Lanka’s culture and heritage to the world , and making people aware of interesting and little known information about the country.

Established in 2009 as a Sinhala language private TV channel, Heritage TV was recently transformed into a 24-hour TV channel with a global reach, giving the opportunity to the public to watch programmes at any time they chose.

Here Karunarathne talks about transforming Heritage TV into a 24-hour channel

Excerpts :

Q: What was the purpose behind making Heritage TV a 24-hour TV channel ?

A : Earlier we telecast only for six hours. Not that it is a 24-hour channel, everyone can see how special the channel is. We started the 24-hour channel on March q. There was an all night pirith ceremony to mark the occasion. We show pirith ceremonies, Thovils and other traditional rituals throughout the night. We show rituals such as Kohomba Kankariya and various shanthikarmas. We record the entire event and show it on TV. The only difference is, it is not a live telecast.

Q : How have the viewers responded to the 24-hour Heritage channel?

A : My first call was from Sri Pura, Padhaviya. It was from two University students. They were very impressed. That encouraged us even more and we get two or three calls every half an hour. Professionals such as Doctors and Engineers call as well. We have divided the programmes into 4 parts - Natural, Folk, Cultural and World heritage. This is a channel where we dub all the Sinhala programmes into English . We do not have reality programmes which hand out money. I honestly think I have done something nobody cared to think about. I also am happy with the responses I get.

Q : Is this a channel which is based only on showing viewers our culture and heritage or is there more?

A : Well, Heritage does not represent only history. There is so much for that. That is why I have divided this in to four categories. This is designed according to the school syllabus. Meaning, we show programmes which are relevant to children’s studies.

When we talk about cultural heritage, we talk about dance forms. When we talk about World Heritage, we should know about cultures of the world. As we know, every religion came from the outside world. Buddhism also came from India. Therefore we should know why that person came and for what purpose. How many Sri Lankans are there who have taken our pride across the world? There are businessmen, scientists and so on. If we make use of their knowledge to include in our programmes, it will be very valuable. I am not against reality shows. But it is not very advisable to select a few individuals. There are a lot of talented people all over the country. There are so many things that we can teach our children.

Q : How much do you depend on commercials as a sources of funding?

A: It is not totally based on commercials. We are trying to bring new concepts and ideas. But there should be a way of funding as well. I do not agree with the notion that a channel should solely depend on commercials. Now if a news bulletin is going on, if they show a lot of commercials it is not correct. If there is some story about a person committing suicide on TV and if they show a milk powder commercial while it is going on, it is not ethical. I firmly believe in that.

Q : What do you think about the present day Sri Lankan society ? Do you think it is too westernized?

A : This is an Internet age. There are so many things we can do with technology today. We cannot put it in that way. But we need to identify the good and bad. Earlier we used to wear long dresses. But with the change of time, various styles appeared from bell bottoms, miniskirts to jeans. Within the change of time we got exposed to many things in the world very quickly.

I don’t think it is a bad thing. The change of technology and other procedures have made things easy.

The only facility I have is that I have 15 people to help me. But even at the moment our first 15 programmes are going to be dubbed into Tamil.

I have seen a lot of young Tamil people who like to express their talents, thoughts and views. All the programmes will be dubbed to English and Tamil. One of the greatest moments I cherish is the time when I did ‘Lassana udasana’ on Rupavahini. There were a lot of experts such as Kamalini and Noeline Honter. I learnt a lot from these people.

Q : What was it like when the channel started ?

A : The idea of starting the TV channel developed when I left Swarnavahini. As a start the air time was given for one hour to check how it will proceed. There was an opportunity of having a 24-hour air time but it was postponed since we did not have enough facilities. Gradually 24 hours became one hour and finally 6 hours became 24 hours.

Q : Have you given up presenting programmes ?

A : Oh no. If I have the need I do it. Earlier I did 9.05.( Nine to five ) But who watches it now ? Even I don’t feel like watching. It is only history now. Such programmes will be carried by young people who have some interest in programme presenting. I also have not given up my interest for musical programmes.

Q : What do you think of the TV channels these days ? Do you think they do justice to their viewers in providing entertainment?

A : All right, let’s take news now. What do they do? Only including bits and pieces from here and there and making it a jumble. There is no attractiveness in that. There are no ethics, no rules, therefore our programmes have changed completely. Media means the main force of a country. The state media is still able to keep it’s position. Their news broadcasts are not corrupted yet in the form of presetting. But they should have the ability to compete attractively. Our channel can be only shown on Dialogue TV. But If we get the chance of showing it island wide, we are sure that it will have good results. If we do something good then we are bound to get a good response.

Q : What is the technology you use on this channel ?

A : We use full HD technology. We use that technology for recordings. We hope to develop our technological facilities. Even if you talk over a telephone, the message should be clear. It is only the message conveyed is important. The most advanced technology at the moment is 2k and 4k Technology.

Q : What are your aspirations for the development of the Heritage channel ?

A : My greatest aspiration is to maintain the TV channel for 24 hours. This channel has the structure of the Discovery channel. There is no use in putting seven to eight commercials and doing programmes. Channels like Discovery are mostly based on foundations. I hope such a time will come soon. My channel is 80% relevant for education.

Q : Any further comments ?

A : We have opportunities to be used. In any channel, presentation consists only 1%.

We would like to know the responses of the public. They are very valuable. I would further like to say if you want to do programme presenting, go to a correct place and learn.

There are distinguished places such as the Television Training Institute and the National Film Corporation.

You should know the course you are doing. You should know about your subject area for you to be an expert in that field.