PRO-UNP TELEVISION STATIONS GO ON STRIKE IN FAVOUR OF DUBBED IMPORTED MELODRAMAS COMPETING LOCAL PRODUCTIONS
(By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles)
The pro-UNP television stations went on strike to protest against the government’s new taxation policy of foreign films and soap operas, which are dubbed in Sinhalese and shown on their television channels.
The strike went on at prime time news periods to tell viewers that the government’s new move was wrong, since the stations depend on imported films to maintain their advertising income to maintain their stations.
The government imposed a tax of between 50,000 to 90,000 Rupees per film on purely commercial melodramas that are dubbed in Sinhalese and shown to the viewers. Years ago such dubbed films were banned in cinema halls to help the local film industry.
The government said that it had to take this decision after seriously considering the request of domestic soap opera producers who said that they were producing enough films to show on all channels but were unjustifiably
competed by mass produced, imported soap operas dubbed in Sinhalese language, that have least amount of overheads for the television stations.
Sirasa, a television station which is maintaining a dubbing station at their studios said it was very unjustifiable to tax these imported films since they were employing about 350 people as sound technicians and dialogue readers and all of them would lose their employment.
The government minister in charge of media Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said, thousands of people were employed by the domestic soap opera industry and the productions are of very high standards. The imported soap operas, which are dubbed in Sinhala language, are extremely cheap low-taste melodramas that could not develop the aesthetics of the people. If the domestic soap opera industry and the film industry were hurt thousands of people would go out of jobs. He said there was also a Tamil soap opera industry being developed in the country that could get harmed due to the imported variety.
Many politicians have charged the pro-UNP television stations of broadcasting extremely bias and distorted news during the previous Presidential election for the defeated candidate, Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Majority of soap opera artists film actors and actresses and the people engaged in the music industry allied with those industries campaigned for the winning candidate, President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
