Sri Lankan fans face TV blackout

Published June 19, 2003

COLOMBO, June 18: Cricket-mad Sri Lanka fans face a TV and radio blackout during the Test series against West Indies following a slump in advertiser interest.

The three main TV stations have all turned down the chance to broadcast the two-Test series which starts on Friday.

“The team’s performance has dropped and advertisers are not interested any more,” said Upali Arambewela, a director-general of Rupav-ahini, the main cricket broadcaster.

“They are telling us that they would now prefer to advertise on our non-cricket programmes,” he added.—Reuters

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