Nahil Wijesuriya Explores Print Media Business in Sri Lanka, May Start Wijesuriya Newspapers

20th November 2009, www.dailymirror.lk

One of Sri Lanka's top entrepreneurs yesterday expressed strong 'interest' in starting up his own business newspaper in view of the Wijeya group setting up an independent financial broadsheet.

Business magnate Nahil Wijesuriya, the largest shareholder of the Ceylon Continental Hotel and Chairman of the East West Group, stated that, while he was "very interested in exploring the possible opportunities inherent in venturing into the print media business” he was not able to elaborate further about his plans without "the appropriate preliminary explorations and due diligence being undertaken". He also hinted at naming his new venture Wijesuriya newspapers.

Popular with readers, the Sunday Times and Daily Mirror Financial Times sections were announced as being closed down, according to advertisements by Wijeya Newspapers this week. Online polling of readers in both the Daily Mirror and Sunday Times have shown a majority opinion in favour of continuing the activities of the local Financial Times in some form as these publications, as one poll respondent puts it, "are in line with the finest in journalistic traditions" as well as, as per another poll respondent’s comments, "never intentionally biased and always accurate in its reporting".

Acknowledged for a string of successes on the Colombo Stock Exchange, it is however Mr. Wijesuriya's achievements in entrepreneurship, particularly in the field of electronic media, which sets him apart from others weighing in on the Financial Times debate. Notably, one of his first endeavours was the setup of the country's first 24-hour English TV station, ETV, which was later sold to the EAP Group, owners of Sinhala TV channel Swarnavahini. Similarly, his most recent efforts have also entailed starting-up the People's Media Network (formerly fully owned by East West Group and comprising Radio 1 and TV 2), of which the frequencies were recently leased out to the state-owned Independent Television Network and re-branded as Prime Radio and Prime TV, the broadcaster's first local offering in the English medium.

Mr. Wijesuriya’s advent to print media would make him the only Sri Lankan business tycoon who has ventured into all three mainline communication mediums - Radio, Television and Print.